The Ministry of National Defense yesterday confirmed a legislator’s revelation that a woman entered the ministry’s main building on Tuesday evening and almost walked straight into the minister’s office.
People First Party (PFP) Legislator Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔) said in a statement yesterday that a woman who claimed to be Minister of National Defense Yen Ming’s (嚴明) wife was allowed to drive her car into the ministry compound and she later rushed to the minister’s office.
According to the ministry’s regulations, those entering the compound must wear a pass and have passed a security check, Chen said.
She said the ministry held a meeting at 8:30pm to review the incident and asked personnel not to make the case public.
Deputy Minister of National Defense Andrew Hsia (夏立言) confirmed the incident during a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in Taipei yesterday morning.
“It is a serious security incident. The ministry has held a meeting to discuss tightening security controls at entrances to the ministry compound,” Hsia said in response to legislators’ questions about the incident.
However, Hsia said Chen’s information was partly wrong.
He said that at about 5pm, a woman surnamed Liang (梁), who seemed to be mentally unstable, told the driver of a ministry shuttle bus parked on Changsha Street (長沙街) that she was a contract worker at the ministry and because her legs were hurting she was hoping to take the bus back to the compound.
He said the driver, who felt sorry for the woman, did not check her security pass.
The woman then went to the third floor of the main building, where she stayed for about 10 minutes before she was escorted off the premises, Hsia added.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) asked whether the ministry knew the intentions and background of the woman, or whether the ministry simply escorted her off the premises.
Hsia said he did not have sufficient information to answer the question and that the ministry’s spokesperson would clarify the matter later yesterday.
Ministry spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) said that after the woman left the ministry’s parking area, she walked directly to the main building — the Red Building (紅樓). She was spotted by a solider on a staircase on the first floor, but she did not stop and kept walking up to the third floor, Lo said.
She was blocked by several soldiers on the third floor of the staircase, where the offices of the minister and deputy minister are located, Lo added.
He said the woman was escorted off the premises at 5:13pm.
Lo said the bus driver had been disciplined, while the soldier who discovered the irregularity had been rewarded.
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