A case of corruption creates diplomatic tension. Providing judicial assistance to Taiwan would imperil Switzerland's relations with China. Here is the main suspect's version of events.

The location of the meeting is kept secret for some time. Not even news of the trip to London is leaked prematurely. And after touchdown at Heathrow, only the next stage of this special orienteering course is known. Not until the Sheraton Hotel does a whispering voice on a cell phone communicate the ultimate destination, ‘The Amsterdam Room’. Curtains are drawn; the door is locked as if access were to be blocked. Hesitant knocking, hesitant entry, and there he is, proffering his outstretched hand, Andrew Wang, 76, Taiwanese billionaire and weapons dealer. The purpose of the meeting? Wang wants to demonstrate that the justice system’s pursuit of him is unwarranted. His native country, Taiwan, wants to take him to court for bribery, treason and murder, while Switzerland has frozen 500 million dollars of his assets. This case of unimaginable dimension dates back to 1991. Taiwan accused Andrew Wang of large-scale bribery in connection with France’s infamous sale of frigates to the island nation. But as if this weren’t enough, the businessman is alleged to have silenced a high-ranking navy officer by murdering him. According to the indictment, Wang bribed Taiwanese officials to pay a hugely inflated price for the frigates. And to smooth the way for the arms shipment, Wang is said to have paid kickbacks to high-level French politicians.

What will Blocher decide?

Switzerland plays a central role. Suspected money-laundering caused the early freezing of Wang’s assets in Swiss bank accounts. In addition, the investigating federal judge decided to accede to Taiwan’s request for judicial assistance. In early May, Switzer-land’s Federal Court upheld this ruling. Wang’s lawyers then appealed to the Justice Department, arguing that judicial assistance is extended only from nation to nation, which would mean that Switzerland acceding to Taiwan’s request would be tantamount to recognizing the former as an independent state, which in turn would be considered by the People’s Republic of China as an unpar-alleled affront, with incalculable consequences. China considers Taiwan a rogue republic, rather than an autonomous nation, and any other nation recognizing Taiwan’s statehood is liable to suffer Chinese sanctions. Chinese reaction would also disadvantage Swiss business as it competes with other countries for the fat profits to be made in China. A Justice Department spokesperson was unable to state when Christoph Blocher, the Federal Councillor in charge, would reach a decision. So far, the EJPD (Switzer-land’s Federal Department of Justice and Police) has only encountered one similar case. The Department’s decision at the time reflected the views of the Federal Court of Justice. Meanwhile, in the conference room, the atmosphere, remindful of a spy thriller, is tense and conversation is slow in starting. The source of danger, if any, is unclear. The protagonist of the piece seems equally unprepared for his role. Andrew Wang therefore attempts to project a sense of normalcy.

‘Please excuse all the going back and forth. You know I’ve never talked to a member of the press in this case before. But now I’m all yours.’ He then continues, in the most gentlemanly fashion and the politest of English: ‘Would you kindly switch off your cell phone?’ Who is this man who fears a Swiss journalist might betray him by transmitting the conversation to his pursuers by cell phone? Barely 20 years old, he was forced to flee his South China homeland to Taiwan, ahead of the pursuing People’s Army. There, the defeated adherents to the Republic of China had sought refuge. Wang soon went into business for himself, building up Taiwan’s telephone system and acting as the main agent for Siemens and Thomson, the French defence group that was destined to play an important part in his later life. Taiwan’s regime benefited from the man and his effective European contacts at a time when the U.S. was its only ally. However, militarily the Yanks supplied third-rate material at best. Modern European weaponry would have been needed to defend against arch-enemy the People’s Republic of China. But the Europeans feared Chinese sanc-tions and it took a businessman such as Andrew Wang to get the French to do business with Taiwan. The name of the multi-billion-dollar contract that set down the details for the sale of six French Lafayette frigates, built by Thomson, to Taiwan, was Bravo. With the contract, signed in ’91, shortly after the end of the Cold War, the French government temporarily authorized weapons deals with Taiwan. It was a time of deep recession, the East-West arms race was over and the French defence industry faced the loss of thousands of jobs. No sooner was the ink dry on the frigate deal than France returned to its previous practice, prohibiting additional weapons exports to Taiwan. Once again, unimpeded commerce with China took priority. Susan Horváth, Head of the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, is aware of the delicacy of the subject: ‘Best not to bring up the matter with the Chinese and stick strictly to business.’ Even though they did not receive battle-ready engines of war to defend against Chinese attacks, but individual modules, to be assembled by the Taiwanese themselves – the only way the French would turn a blind eye temporarily –, after much negotiation, the Taiwanese agreed to a price of 2.5 billion dollars, payable to the French for these frigates of the latest de-sign. Andrew Wang welcomed the conditions. Shipping individual modules was more complex, and accordingly more expensive. His efforts paid off: About one-fifth of the contract price, the previously-mentioned 500 billion dollars, landed in Wang’s 46 Swiss bank accounts. The money is there today, frozen by order of the Federal Court of Justice. The fight for Wang’s fortune has be-come the family business. In the conference room, Wang the father is flanked by two of his sons, his eldest, a big, rather portly man, in fashionable black tortoiseshell glasses and elegant cufflinks to the right, and to the left, by his younger son, dressed less fashionably and ascetic-looking like his father. They occasionally interrupt their father, who has saved all his life and is wearing a shapeless, grey-speckled, off-the-rack suit, in Chinese. They probably instructed him not to say too much. The impression is of the second generation fighting over a fortune which the first generation built up humbly with its own sweat. The Bravo contract stipu-lates that no commission is due but Wang, who earned a respectable 500 million dollars for his services, disagrees: ‘Commission payments are customary and legal in the armaments business, as in other forms of trading. After all, complex relationships in national defence are involved. You can’t just call up two or three people and hope you have a deal.’

So far, Wang’s strategy of staying away has not proved to be particularly helpful to him. In his homeland, the tide of public opinion has long since turned against him. Unfortunately, the frigate deal has become a Taiwanese political cause célèbre that clearly favours Taiwan’s head of state, President Chen. With the fight against corruption his main campaign promise, he managed four years ago to unseat Taiwan’s founding party, the Kuomintang, for the first time. It is weapons dealer Wang’s great misfortune that the sale of the six French frigates was the main symbol of this fight. According to Chen’s lights, Wang is the biggest and most influential villain in the gargantuan battle against corruption. Should Taiwan succeed in the course of arbitration proceedings to get the French to pay a fine of up to 600 million dollars, it would mark an enormous political triumph for Chen, quite apart from the considerable amount France would be required to repay. So far, Taiwan’s president has received all the support he asked for from Switzerland’s investigating attorney. While he has no concrete proof, investigating attorney Paul Perraudin is of the opinion that Wang plays a central role in the frigate case. ‘Lest I prejudice any future rulings, I only tell you that investigations in the matter of Andrew Wang are ongoing’, he says.

‘Why should I be a murderer?’

In ‘Amsterdam’, the temperature appears to have exceeded 35 degrees. Breathing is increasingly difficult, but the old man, unlike the assembled young crew, shows no signs of weakness. He now even seems to enjoy the discussion because it gives him a chance to try to unfreeze his fortune by means of wordy explanations. But this entails dealing with the most serious accusation of all, that of involvement in a Taiwanese navy captain’s mysterious death. In murder cases, investigating attorneys almost always extend judicial assistance. Captain Yin’s body was discovered in early December of ’93, the officer a likely murder victim. Rumours soon multiplied. The Taiwanese press speculated about Andrew Wang’s involvement in the case as early as the day of the body’s discovery. The particular rumour was circulated that Captain Yin was familiar with the background of the frigate affair and was ready to make a statement, which was why Wang had allegedly eliminated him. The accusations were effective: Wang, who was visiting his children in the U.S. at the time, never again dared return to his home country.

‘When I realized that I was under pressure, my family and my lawyers advised me not to return to Taiwan’, says Wang. ‘I happen to know that in Taiwan, suspects and witnesses in this case were tortured. At my age, I wouldn’t survive a week. Maybe a few days, no more. There is no comparing it with Europe.’ Andrew Wang’s voice quivers, he is looking for more material showing his innocence in his mound of documents. He then continues, ‘Captain Yin was never involved in the Lafayette acquisition. He was transferred to the defence acquisition authority as late as ’93, two years after the Bravo contract’s signing in ’ 91. His death had nothing to do with Bravo.’ Wang’s statements cannot be verified. Switzerland’s investigating attorney hides behind the statement that he cannot comment on an ongoing investigation. The Taiwanese state links the alleged murder to the frigate affair, but without proof. And Wang tables one document after another to support his claim of innocence. But what good are all the confusing num-bers, [evidence of] omissions in translations from Chinese into English of indictments, and photocopied newspaper articles, against the might of a government? Especially if, as Wang believes, one is the plaything of political interests? ‘The Chen govern-ment is taking advantage of the Lafayette case to investigate its political enemies and scrutinize their bank accounts’, says Wang in an attempt to position himself as a victim of Taiwanese domestic politics. ‘The government has audited thousands of bank accounts. The Taiwanese also sent a list of the names of Chen’s most important enemies for investigation by Switzerland’s inves-tigating attorney in the hope of gaining information about their financial situations.’ Asked about this, investigator Perraudin merely stated that, after careful study, cases such as Wang’s often turn out different than they first appear. But, says Perraudin, that is all he is prepared to say, ‘official secret, you understand’. In the meantime Wang no longer understands the world around him. ‘Why should I be a murderer? Or have hired a killer? What would have been in it for me? I am 76 years old, own a large fortune, have a happy family, a good reputation, am a Buddhist, live thriftily. Why should I have committed such a terrible crime and subject myself to such hardship?’ Leaving, Wang will not let go of my hand. Only now do I notice how small and fragile the man is. His pants hang loose around his legs, his jacket sags. Andrew Wang seems to instinctively be aware of the prevailing mood. At just the right moment he launches into his closing argument: ‘I am old and I am sick. A few years ago I was diagnosed with cancer and had a kidney removed. I have no reason to lie. Why is Switzerland doing this to me? I have always considered it a just, honest country.’

With acknowledgements to Weltwoche and Lukas Hässig.