The Ministry of National Defense is investigating whether former Marine Corps commander Lieutenant-General Hsu Shang-wen (徐尚文), who had been disciplined over corruption allegations, had attempted to commit suicide, Vice Minister of National Defense Chang Liang-jen (張良任) said yesterday.
Chang said he understood that Hsu had slashed one of his wrists yesterday morning and was being treated at the military’s Tsoying Hospital.
Tsoying Hospital confirmed yesterday that there had been a 4cm to 5cm long wound on Hsu’s left wrist when he arrived at the hospital.
Chang said it was unknown whether he had tried to take his own life.
Hsu on Tuesday received two demerits for failing to avoid a conflict of interest and was transferred to the Navy Command Headquarters as a commission member while awaiting a judicial inquiry.
Meanwhile, legislators yesterday quizzed Chang about media reports of a surprise late-night raid on Navy Headquarters last Tuesday by Chief of General Staff Lin Chen-yi (林鎮夷) and a team of inspectors.
The raid was carried out at the request of Minister of National Defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏).
The Chinese-language Apple Daily newspaper yesterday reported that Lin arrived at Navy Headquarters to find two petty officers from the Naval Honor Guard drunk at their posts while on guard duty. Lin also discovered empty beer cans, the report said.
Lin then found that the duty officer, Rear Admiral Dai Ching-cheng (戴慶正) of the Navy Intelligence Center, asleep in his office the newspaper reported.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Wu (吳志揚) complained about the report to Chang.
“This is absurd. Officers who were supposed to be on security duty were drunk. What kind of discipline is this?” he said.
Confirming the raid, Chang said: “We discovered a problem and tried to fix it before it got worse. We hope to be encouraged instead of being condemned.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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