In response to media speculation on tension within Taiwan’s military delegation to the US, delegation head Tan Chih-lung (淡志隆) yesterday said he has grievances concerning deputy chief Hsu Wei-kuang (徐偉光).
In a letter to the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper), an anonymous person said Tan had accused Hsu of making more than 30 serious mistakes.
In response, the Ministry of National Defense said the matter was under investigation and the results would be made public when the probe is finished.
A delegation member who spoke on condition of anonymity said Tan and Hsu have long had problems, with each suspicious that the other is making accusations behind their back. Tan suspects that the decision to send him back to Taiwan in January — before the end of his three-year assignment — was related to meddling by Hsu, the source said.
The most serious error Tan accused Hsu of making had to do with arms procurements from the US, people familiar with the matter said.
Tan alleged that Hsu, after the US agreed to sell PAC-3 missiles to Taiwan, sought the purchase from other sources of missiles produced by original equipment manufacturers, sources said. After Tan found wide differences in pricing, he reportedly wrote to the military to inquire whether the purchase was necessary.
The military replied that the missiles must be purchased from the original manufacturers. Tan said he was acting according to instructions.
Tan rebutted reports that the ministry had assigned officials to Washington to probe the matter.
He declined to comment further before the ministry had concluded its probe.
Representative to the US Jason Yuan (袁健生) said he regretted that there was tension within the military delegation, but said he was satisfied with its overall performance.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
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