Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday raised questions over whether the military had leaked confidential information about its accidental firing of a missile earlier yesterday, saying that a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) official had posted details about the incident on Facebook even before Premier Lin Chuan (林全) was briefed about it.
“The missile incident occurred at 8:15am, and a civilian reported the incident — the navy ship [from which the missile was fired] and the type of the missile [that was fired] on Facebook,” DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) wrote on Facebook. “The [civilian’s Facebook] post appeared earlier than the earliest media report on the incident at 9:13am. I suspect that someone might have leaked confidential information, and prosecutors should conduct an investigation.”
Although Wang did not give the name of the civilian, DPP Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said it was KMT Central Policy Committee director Alex Tsai (蔡正元).
“[National defense officials] have said that Tsai learned about it because people living along the coast heard the noise of the missile firing,” Lo said. “That might be true, but only people in the military would have known what type of missile was fired and the name of the ship from which it was fired.”
Tsai learned about the missile firing — which hit a Taiwanese fishing boat, killing one person on board — before the premier, who was briefed about the incident at about 9am, a Cabinet official who spoke on condition of anonymity said.
In response to the criticism, Tsai told the Chinese-language Apple Daily that there was no information leak, because the information was not confidential.
DPP lawmakers also condemned the ministry for making such a serious mistake.
“According to what the ministry told me, the detonation system for the missile would not have been activated in this type of drill, so who activated the detonation system?” Wang asked. “Also, there would have been a series of checks before a missile could be fired, so what happened during the process?”
DPP caucus executive director Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said the ministry should thoroughly investigate the incident and explain to the public what happened.
“Otherwise, how can we guarantee the safe passage of civilian ships from around the world in waters surrounding the nation?” Wu asked.
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
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
RSS