The army yesterday said that it would discipline 601st Air Cavalry Brigade Lieutenant Colonel Lao Nai-cheng (勞乃成) for wearing a NT$2 million (US$63,891) integrated helmet and display sight system (IHADSS) and a full flight suit to a Halloween party in October last year.
The Ministry of National Defense called Lao a disappointment and vowed to impose a harsh punishment after it was revealed that Lao — one of the nation’s first AH-64E Apache attack helicopter instructors trained in the US — took the helmet-mounted display used with the helicopter to a Halloween party.
The news came only a day after the military announced disciplinary action against Lao and other high-ranking officers at the Army Special Forces Command for taking a group of 20 people — including showbiz personality Janet Lee (李蒨蓉), members of her family and friends — into a restricted area at the brigade’s headquarters, where they posed around and inside Apache helicopters. The incident came to light after Lee posted four photos from her visit on Facebook.
Photo provided by a member of the public
The Chinese-language Apple Daily yesterday reported that Lao’s wife, Chiu Ya-ching (邱雅靖) hosted the Halloween party at her home last year and that most of the guests were also on the controversial tour last week.
That Lao wore a flight suit and IHADSS at the party was revealed when Joyce Chang (張婉愉), an Audi Taiwan board member, posted photographs of Lao at the party on Facebook.
Chang deleted the pictures after they were publicized.
Ministry spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) yesterday said that Lao’s actions were inappropriate and that he was a disappointment, adding that Lao damaged the image of the armed forces.
Lo said the ministry has asked Army Command Headquarters to launch an investigation, severely penalize Lao and discipline others at the brigade.
Each IHADSS unit costs NT$2 million and enables pilots to search for and shoot targets without having to look down at cockpit instrumentation. Lee and her husband are the only people in the nation to have been seen wearing the helmet publicly besides Apache pilots and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Army Command Headquarters later yesterday issued a statement saying that it has verified the incident and that it would discipline all service members involved, including Lao.
The army also plans to refer the case to prosecutors for further investigation, the statement added.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary