The presiding judge of the military supreme court was given a major demerit yesterday and removed from his post for a drunk-driving accident, which the Ministry of National Defense said has disgraced the military.
Colonel Tang Kuang-lung's (湯光隆) punishment, decided yesterday morning by Minister of National Defense Tang Yau-ming (湯曜明), is the harshest in recent years. It effectively will end his military career.
The ministry announced the punishment in a press release. It emphasized that although drunk driving is not a serious offense, the military judge's behavior in the aftermath of a car accident caused by his drunkenness had disgraced the service.
Colonel Tang rammed his car into the back of a taxi in Taipei on Tuesday night.
Tang and an unidentified friend who had been in his car reportedly tried to play down the accident by identifying themselves and their connections. Tang, his friend and the taxi driver got into an prolonged argument on the street, at first drawing a crowd of passersby and later television reporters.
The argument was broadcast repeatedly on several TV news channels yesterday.
Tang's friend is suspected to be a military official, but the ministry declined to confirm his identity.
A senior ministry official said the colonel's behavior has damaged the military's image.
The colonel was said to have been involved in the investigation of several major scandals, such as the murder of navy Captain Yin Ching-feng (
The incident brought to mind other scandals involving senior military officials in recent years.
The most famous one involved a former official with the National Security Bureau who flew to China nearly three years ago in violation of security regulations governing intelligence personnel.
An investigation by the bureau found that retired Major General Pan Hsi-hsien (潘希賢), who had been chief of the bureau's personnel department, was detained by Taipei police for drunk driving several months before his retirement.
However, Pan did not disclose his position or rank to the police.
Despite Pan's low-key treatment of the drunk driving incident, his retirement several months later might have been a punishment.
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