A Control Yuan report has identified serious disciplinary problems at the National Security Bureau (NSB) following an enquiry into the visit to China by one of the NSB's former senior officials.
The former official, Pan Hsi-hsien (潘希賢), has been detained by Chinese authorities since the end of June.
In its report, the Control Yuan highlights a drunk driving incident involving Pan while blaming the NSB for failing to maintain discipline among its staff.
The report does not identify, however, what might have caused Pan to leave for China in apparent violation of security regulations which he, as chief of the personnel department, should have known better than anyone.
Pan retired from the bureau on June 1, six months earlier than scheduled, leaving for China three days later for what he said was a job at a Taiwanese-run factory in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. He was taken into custody by Chinese security agents on June 29 and is believed to be still held. His wife Liang Mei-ling (
The Pan incident aroused serious concerns because of the possibility that national secrets might be compromised.
NSB director General Ting Yu-chou (丁渝洲) stated, however, at a press conference, that Pan did not have access to highly-classified information while serving at the bureau although information to which he was privy could do some harm to the NSB.
The Control Yuan interviewed General Ting last Friday as part of its investigation.
The report establishes a link between Pan's drunk driving and his early retirement.
The drunk driving incident happened during the evening of Jan. 22 when Pan crashed his car into a sedan driven by a civilian in downtown Taipei. A police blood alcohol test showed Pan's blood alcohol content was 1.11 mg/l, far exceeding the standard 0.25 mg/l.
The NSB did not know of the matter until April 3 when newspapers reported that Pan was to be prosecuted on charges of drunk driving, according to the report.
General Ting strongly reprimanded Pan in a routine meeting the day after he learned of the matter, the report said. This, it concludes, prompted Pan to file for early retirement to avoid further tarnishing the image of the bureau.
Although it links the two incidents in terms of cause and effect, the report steers clear of any insinuation that Pan's unauthorized departure to China might have had anything to do with his forced early retirement.
It focuses, rather, on calling the NSB to account for its discipline problems as well as for its inability to find out about Pan's drunk driving incident until almost three months after the event.
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