A female major serving at Missile Command Center has apologized and been given a minor demerit for posting more than 1,000 revealing photos of herself on a personal blog, the military said yesterday.
The pictures posted by Fan Chun-chen (范群偵) “ignored the basic expectations of propriety and strictness of her vocation and highlighted her thoughtlessness,” the military said.
Fan made no secret of the fact that she was a military academy graduate.
In one post, she wrote: “I like showing off [my body] and I’m narcissistic; I won’t pretend not to be anymore.”
Fan has told colleagues who said she should “tone down” her act that “I have my freedoms, on the basis that they do not infringe on other’s people’s liberties. I have not harmed my professional image and have not indulged in promiscuous affairs. I do not have to mind what my superiors think of my opinions.”
That a female major would post near-nude photos online and defend her actions has sparked debate and drawn public attention, forcing the military to intervene.
The armed forces said that although such actions constituted personal online activity outside the base, media reports of her behavior had negatively affected social perception.
The Ministry of National Defense does not forbid soldiers and officers from running blogs, or presenting their personal opinions and pictures on their blogs as long as they do not involve military secrets.
Fan was called to explain her conduct before a committee, who gave her a minor demerit after hearing her case, Missile Command Center Ethics Department director Chang Kan (張敢) said.
Media reports said that the center held the personnel evaluation committee meeting, which was headed by the deputy commander, to comply with a request made by the ministry on Aug. 15.
Fan apologized during the meeting, saying she had password-locked all the pictures, but had accidentally left them unlocked for several hours two weeks ago.
She said that she thought it was not a big deal because only about 199 Web users had accessed the pictures.
“I took the pictures because I am confident about my body and did not want my youth to go to waste,” Fan had said earlier.
However, she said she felt guilty after the media exposed her behavior, adding that she was deeply apologetic that her behavior had tarnished the image of the military.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff writer
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