Premier Simon Chang (張善政) yesterday urged the Ministry of National Defense to temporarily remove from their posts officials who were involved in the warrantless search by military police of a private residence for documents said to be related to the White Terror era, pending an investigation.
Amid growing public outcry over the search, Chang held a news conference at the Executive Yuan in an apparent effort to assuage the controversy.
The Taipei Military Police Station on Feb. 19 searched the home of a man, surnamed Wei (魏), who was later charged with possession of stolen property and violating personal privacy by selling government documents dated from the 1960s and 1970s. The documents in question were confiscated by the military police.
Photo: CNA
The case came to light after Wei’s daughter on Saturday posted on the Professional Technology Temple (PTT), the nation’s largest online academic bulletin board, about her father’s situation.
“Over the past few days, considerable controversy has arisen over a military police search for alleged White Terror-era documents at a civilian residence. The Executive Yuan would like to make a few comments on the case,” Chang said at the news conference, which Executive Yuan spokesman Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) attended.
To ensure the smooth execution of the probe, all high-level officials involved in Wei’s case should be temporarily removed from their current posts, including those from the Ministry of National Defense’s Political Warfare Bureau, which ordered the investigation of Wei, and the Military Police Command, he said.
While pledging not to interfere with the investigation, Chang said he hoped that prosecutors could ascertain the truth in the shortest time possible and allow the maximum level of openness in their investigation.
The White Terror era ended decades ago and Taiwanese have been free from fear of the dark period ever since, Chang said.
“The documents [in Wei’s possession] were from 50 years ago and they were supposed to be destroyed two to three decades ago. It is debatable whether it is appropriate to launch an investigation based on the suspected offense of disclosing confidential information over some documents that escaped destruction,” Chang said.
The premier also questioned the propriety of deploying military police to deal with a case that involves civilians, saying prosecutors should have handled any investigation and police officers should have conducted the property search under a warrant.
“This is how the case should have been handled if it indeed needed looking into,” Chang said.
Chang said that although the ministry said that Wei had signed a consent-to-search form, having military police retrieve documents from civilians without a warrant was nevertheless improper.
About an hour after Chang’s news conference, the Presidential Office released a statement saying President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is extremely concerned about Wei’s case.
“President Ma has instructed Premier Chang and relevant government agencies to seriously examine the matter, ascertain the truth and give the public a clear explanation as soon as possible,” Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) said.
Chen said that the Republic of China is a nation that champions democracy and human rights and that the government exists for the purposes of safeguarding citizens’ fundamental human rights and creating a free environment for people.
However, any unwarranted innuendos made by political manipulators before the judicial authority finds out the truth about the case not only are unhelpful, but could also cause harm to society, Chen said.
Meanwhile, Control Yuan member Chang Kuei-mei (仉桂美) told reporters that she is considering whether to initiate an investigation into the case.
“The military and civilian systems function separately. If we do decide to look into the matter, our focus will be on whether the military police’s investigation into Wei conforms to the rule of law, as well as the mandate and scope of their work,” she said.
In other developments, five military police officers involved in the Wei case were summoned by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
After questioned, they were allowed to leave the office.
The White Terror era refers to the decades after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime under former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) imposed martial law on Taiwan on May 19, 1949. Martial law was lifted on July 15, 1987.
Additional reporting by CNA
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
‘FALLACY’: Xi’s assertions that Taiwan was given to the PRC after WWII confused right and wrong, and were contrary to the facts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday called Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) claim that China historically has sovereignty over Taiwan “deceptive” and “contrary to the facts.” In an article published on Wednesday in the Russian state-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Xi said that this year not only marks 80 years since the end of World War II and the founding of the UN, but also “Taiwan’s restoration to China.” “A series of instruments with legal effect under international law, including the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration have affirmed China’s sovereignty over Taiwan,” Xi wrote. “The historical and legal fact” of these documents, as well
RSS