The army denied yesterday that the son of the nation's president has his own private quarters.
New Party Taipei City Councilor Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元) alleged yesterday that though military recruits serving their two years of compulsory service must bunk together, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) enjoys his own room and other special perks.
Lee said a source at the Chenkungling army base in Taichung County had called to tell him of Chen's special privileges.
PHOTO: LIN CHUN-HAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Chen, President Chen Shui-bian's (
"One of Chen's fellow reserve officers called me and said that after Chen arrived on the 15th he was assigned to a private room so that he could sleep alone," Lee said. "Furthermore, the source said that the base's mid-ranking officers are always taking care of Chen."
But the councilor failed to provide any evidence of his conversation with the source.
An army official at the base said Lee's allegations were not true and denied that the army was providing Chen with any special privileges.
"He ate, slept and received training along with the other 161 recruits here," said Colonel Sun Chen-dung (孫震東), director of Chenkungling's Political Warfare Department.
"He arrived at approximately 12:40pm with his fellow recruits from Taipei on the 15th," Sun said.
"Their first week of `adjustment education' began immediately. We focused on showing them some military manners, rules for standing guard, how to clean up their living quarters to meet our standards, etc," Sun said. "We did not and will not do anything special for Chen."
Lee has been in the news recently, leveling accusations at other highly public figures. The city councilor on Wednesday asserted that former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) house in Taipei's Shihlin district has an illegal extension.
Officials from Taipei City's Department of Military Service said that although Chen is now the responsibility of the Ministry of National Defense, he did not enjoy any special treatment while under their care.
There was no "special treatment or privileges" given Chen during the processing of his paperwork for military service, said Tu Ying-hui (杜英輝), the head of the department's Second Division.
"He left [for the army] alone, that's for sure," Tu said.
"I was at the Taipei Railway Station to see the [Taipei] recruits off on the 15th. We did not give him any special attention. Also, he didn't have a bodyguard or anything as far as I could see."
Chen will remain at the base for basic military training through Dec. 10, when he will be commissioned as a lieutenant and assigned to a military unit.
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