The prosecutors' office of the military high court yesterday announced it has dismissed criminal charges against an officer for his role in a housing controversy involving former defense minister Wu Shih-wen (
Major Chang Cheng-chin (
Liao made the announcement at the Ministry of National Defense's regular weekly press conference.
"We found that although Chang filled out the application form for Wu, he did not intend to provide incorrect information. He has thus been cleared of criminal charges," Liao said.
"What is left is administrative punishments against officials for failing to prevent such a mistake from happening," he said.
The decision marked an end to a months-long controversy over Chang's responsibility for an application form for a military-housing unit that he filled out on behalf of Wu when he worked in the office of the deputy defense minister in 1999 when Wu was deputy minister.
Last month, Chang made headlines by accusing former superiors of trying to make him a scapegoat over the incorrect information on the application form.
Chang's accusation embarrassed the defense ministry and challenged the military tradition that no member should make public statements without authorization from higher authorities.
The controversy erupted after a DPP lawmaker alleged last October that an apartment complex the ministry was to build in downtown Taipei for senior defense officials was meant to favor certain people, such as Wu.
After the lawmaker made the allegations, it was discovered that Wu's application for a unit of the building did not provide a true account of his financial status.
The form claimed Wu did not own any homes, which would help him qualify for an apartment.
The ministry initially tried to play down the allegations and the uproar over Wu's application by saying that the mistake was due to an administrative error.
However, military prosecutors later had to launch an investigation since none of Wu's former staff officers was willing to admit to making the error.
Chang was sent for investigation by military prosecutors last November on charges of forgery after initial examinations indicated the handwriting in the application form matched his.
Chang insisted that he was not involved in providing the incorrect data.
Chang contacted a Chinese-language newspaper last month and accused his former superiors -- including Rear Admiral Chang Chun-wei (張駿維) -- of providing him with the wrong information. The admiral had been the chief of the defense minister's office at the time.
Chang also accused Wu of trying to exert pressure on him by using officials such as the admiral.
Wu, however, has denied the accusations.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods