The Executive Yuan’s Military Injustice Petition Committee was disbanded on Thursday after a year of operation during which 133 cases were looked into and 11 referred to the judiciary for further investigation.
Since its establishment on Aug. 29 last year, the committee received 53 petitions from the public, either submitted in person or reported by telephone, while the committee took the initiative to look into 80 cases, the Executive Yuan said in the statement.
The committee was set up in response to a massive rally on Aug. 4 last year that saw about 200,000 people take to the streets in Taipei demanding truth about the death of army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘), better protection of human rights in the military and the reopening of previous cases of suspected military injustice.
Given that it was no longer receiving as many petitions as it did initially and that military personnel suspected of mistreating soldiers now face prosecution in civilian courts, committee members decided that they had completed their mission, the committee said in the statement.
The committee also said that it would present a report to the Ministry of National Defense about the death or disappearance of soldiers over the past 20 years, based on the cases it had investigated, to help the military identify the causes for such deaths and possible systematic flaws.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the