Hsieh Wei-chou (
"What he did was obviously against the rules. A serviceman has to stay neutral in terms of political orientation. But he only showed up at the event and did not campaign for his father," ministry spokeswoman Colonel Lisa Chi (
"We have yet to decide how to deal with the case. But when we do, we will immediately make the decision public," she said.
Chi made the remarks during a press conference at the ministry yesterday morning, when she was asked to comment on the issue.
Prior to the presidential poll, the ministry reminded all military personnel several times that servicemen and women should not show support for any specific candidate and should not get involved in any campaign activities.
Hsieh Wei-chou appeared with his father during a campaign activity in Kaohsiung one day before the election, but he did not make any election-related comments.
The question of whether Minister of National Defense Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) should publicly proclaim the military's support for the new president was also discussed at the press conference.
"The minister would only do that if there was public unrest before, during or after the election, or if there were potential foreign military threats," Chi said.
"But no such incidents were reported and the election proceeded smoothly. As a result, there is no need for the minister to do that," she said.
Chi said, however, according to the Constitution, the minister will make such a vow when the new president takes the oath of office on May 20.
The donation of offshore patrol vessel Kinmen to the Philippines includes provisions that protect Taiwanese fishers and facilitate security cooperation across the First Island Chain, officials said yesterday. The comment was made during the Cabinet’s comprehensive administrative report at the legislature after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) expressed concerns about the decision to give a ship to a country whose coast guard had in 2013 fired on a Taiwanese trawler and killed its captain without provocation. The Cabinet should lay out the safeguards that have been established to prevent the Philippine government from using the Kinmen to harass, expel
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