President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday punished Chief of the General Staff Yen Teh-fa (嚴德發) with one demerit and Army Commander General Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) with two demerits following an outcry over visits on March 29 by unauthorized civilians to a restricted-access base housing US-made AH-64E Apache helicopters.
According to a press release issued by the Presidential Office last night, Ma said the visit to the 601st Air Cavalry Brigade base in Taoyuan’s Longtan District (龍潭) falls under the purview of Yen and Chiu and that their “lack of supervision” demonstrated a lack of military discipline that compromised military security.
Led by Minister of National Defense Kao Kuang-chi (高廣圻), Yen, Chiu and other military officials presented a report to Ma on a recent spate of military scandals after the military conducted a review involving all units on Tuesday.
Photo: CNA
Kao offered to resign to take responsibility for the Apache incident, but Ma asked him to stay to strengthen discipline and maintain morale in the military, Presidential Office spokesperson Charles Chen (陳以信) said.
Deputy ministers of defense Liu Chen-wu (劉震武) and Chen Yung-kang (陳永康), Navy Commander Admiral Li Hsi-ming (李喜明), Air Force Commander General Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴), Reserve Forces Command Headquarters Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Bi Hsueh-wen (畢學文) and Military Police Commander Lieutenant General Wu Ying-ping (吳應平) were also present at the meeting at the Presidential Office Building.
Earlier in the day, the ministry announced more punishments, focusing on Lieutenant General Chen Chien-tsai (陳健財), who was removed from his post as commander of the Army Special Forces Command’s Airborne Headquarters.
Taking blame for the fallout and security lapses arising from the unauthorized civilian visits, Chen Chien-tsai has been demoted and transferred to a non-supervisory post as a consultative member at the Army Command Headquarters (ACH) office.
“Chen Chien-tsai did not fulfill his responsibility as the commander in charge of the unit, and did not conduct the suitable followup work on the incident,” ministry spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) said.
“Major General Chien Tsung-yuan (簡聰淵), commander of the 601st Air Cavalry Brigade, was also removed from his post, and transferred to ACH as a consultative member. If the two officers do not take up other military posts within a year, by military regulations, they will be forced to retire,” Lo added.
The Army Special Forces Command Airborne Headquarters, which was headed by Chen Chien-tsai, has direct jurisdiction over the 601st and 602nd Air Cavalry Brigade, among other specially trained elite units, including paratroopers, amphibious fighting battalions, reconnaissance helicopter and attack helicopter operation units.
The 601st and 602nd brigades, based in Taoyuan’s Longtan District and Taichung’s Sinshe (新社) respectively, are the two units responsible for the service and operation of the helicopters, the last of which were delivered in October last year.
A total of 61 Bell AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters, obtained from the US in arms procurement packages during the 1990s, are also deployed at these two brigades.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique