FBI Reportedly Has Tape Tying Taiwan Officials to Liu Slaying

WASHINGTON —  The FBI has obtained a tape recording that implicates several intelligence officials of the Taiwanese government in the California murder of Henry Liu, a San Francisco writer who was highly critical of the Nationalist government, sources familiar with the international investigation confirmed Tuesday.

The tape, recorded by Chen Chi-li, a suspect in the murder and a reputed leader of the United Bamboo gang, contains details of plans for the Oct. 15 murder of Liu and a list of persons involved, according to the sources. Moreover, they said, it contains some description of the Taiwan intelligence service’s other activities.

FBI officials declined comment, but the sources said Chen, now in the custody of Taiwanese authorities, took steps to assure that the recording reached the FBI as a means of protecting himself in the sensitive inquiry. The FBI is understood to have obtained it about a week ago.

The sources familiar with the probe said there had not been time for the FBI to have corroborated most of the details provided by Chen. They indicated that there is no doubt that the recording had been made by the suspect.

Liu, 52, who recently published a critical biography of Taiwanese President Chiang Ching-kuo, was shot to death in the garage of his home in suburban Daly City by two Asian men riding bikes and wearing hooded sweat shirts. A native of Taiwan, Liu had emigrated to the United States in 1967.

Murder ‘Road Map’ The confirmation that the FBI had possession of the tape--first reported Monday by Newsweek and described by one source Tuesday as a “road map” in the Liu slaying--was made as two FBI agents and a Daly City police lieutenant arrived in Taipei to question suspects in the case, including Chen and Wu Tun, reputedly another United Bamboo member.

Announcement of their arrival was made by the American Institute in Taiwan, the United States’ unofficial embassy since formal ties with Nationalist China were severed in 1979. Taiwan authorities and the two suspects have given “permission” for the interviews, the announcement said.

The U.S. law enforcement officers also plan to discuss the investigation with Taiwanese detectives assigned to the case, according to the institute.

Meanwhile, a Chinese-language newspaper reported in Taipei that authorities had arrested Vice Adm. Wang Hsi-ling, Maj. Gen. Hu Yi-min and a colonel identified only as Kuo in connection with the slaying. The newspaper, the Independence Evening Post, quoted unidentified sources as reporting the arrests.

The arrest of a fourth official, Col. Chen Hu-men, was announced by the government last week. Chen Hu-men and Chen Chi-li reportedly met several times before Chen Chi-li flew to the United States last fall, and they met again when Chen Chi-li returned on Oct. 22, a week after Liu’s murder, according to press reports from Taipei.

The Taiwan government information office said in a statement that Taiwanese officials are cooperating with U.S. authorities and “will arrange meetings between the Americans and the two suspects. . . .” The officials will also provide the American investigators with “relevant matters” to help speed disposition of the case, according to the announcement.

The announcement gave no indication whether Taiwan, which has no extradition treaty with the United States, would allow any suspects to be sent to California for trial.

Despite the confirmation by sources that the FBI has the recording, John Warren, a Daly City detective involved in the Liu investigation, said he does not think the FBI has such a tape. “If they had it, I would know,” Warren said.

The sources, however, insisted that the Daly City police knew the FBI had obtained the recording.