The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday apologized for a prostitution scandal involving 11 officers.
“We are sorry and apologize to the public for this incident. We will come up with proper punishment for military personnel involved in this case,” the military said in a press release. “However, the total number of crimes or violations [by military personnel] declined since last year.”
The Chinese-language Apple Daily News said yesterday that 11 officers from the Air Force, Army and Navy, ranking from petty officer to lieutenant, had employed the services of three teenage prostitutes since October.
The story said that in October a Navy ensign and “Hsiao Chen” (小真) became friends in an Internet chat room. The ensign and Hsiao Chen had their first encounter shortly afterwards, the story said.
The ensign then began to tell his military colleagues about Hsiao Chen.
As a growing number of his colleagues began to visit the girl, 17-year-old Hsiao Chen invited her friends “Hsiao Hui” (小蕙) and “Hsiao Ya” (小雅), also 17, to get involved. The story came to light after Kaohsiung police raided a motel and discovered an Army officer and “Hsiao Chen” naked in a room.
Police later discovered that many other military personnel were involved in the prostitution ring through Hsiao Chen’s cellphone.
They forwarded the case to the ministry, which talked to around 27 people, 11 of whom were involved in the case.
The MND said that once convicted, the 11 would lose their positions.
“The case is now being investigated and the ministry will help prosecutors wrap up the investigation as soon as possible,” the press release read.
Asked for comment, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) expressed disappointment.
“I am shocked and disappointed ... this [scandal] has had a negative impact on the image [of our military],” she said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
RSS