Taipei prosecutors yesterday decided not to prosecute six people who claimed that the Ministry of National Defense was paying too much for the procurement of F-16V planes, as their comments were deemed a reasonable discussion on issues of public interest.
After messages by the six people were last year posted and circulated on social media, ministry officials issued clarifications, saying that some of the figures quoted were misleading or factually incorrect, and filed a judicial complaint alleging that the six were disseminating misinformation.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau tracked down and identified the six, and filed charges for breaches of the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), but the Taipei District Court decided not to impose punishment.
Ministry officials then filed a case alleging that the people insulted a public office with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, which yesterday announced that it would not proceed with the prosecution.
The comments by the six people were a reasonable discussion of an issue of public interest, the office said.
To bolster the nation’s air defenses, the ministry in February last year requested an arms package from the US that included 66 F-16Vs, associated munitions, pilot training, and two years of logistics and parts supplies.
Local media reported that the package would cost US$13 billion.
Following adjustments and scrutiny by opposition parties, the Legislative Yuan in October last year passed special legislation authorizing up to NT$250 billion (US$8.2 billion at the current exchange rate) for the procurement.
“Taiwan is being fleeced... The UK is buying 138 of the latest F-35 stealth fighters for only NT$361.9 billion. We are buying the F-16V, which is not as good as the F-35, and paying NT$390 billion for 66 of them,” wrote one of the six, a man surnamed Huang (黃).
“This is three times more expensive for us. My god, it is too costly. Are we paying a protection fee to the US? It is totally unreasonable,” Huang added.
At the time, the ministry issued a clarification, saying that the UK was buying 48 F-35s, not 138; that the reported NT$390 billion price tag for the F-16Vs was not final, as negotiations were ongoing; and that the F-16V is the newest version of the fighter, not a jet that was “already outdated by 20 years,” as some had claimed online.
Another of the six, a man surnamed Ho (何), wrote: “So this is how the US gives support to Taiwan, by always ripping us off on these military purchases?”
“Who is cheating who, and who is getting ripped off?” Ho added. “Taiwanese must really think about it.”
The other four expressed similar criticisms and condemnations.
The ministry yesterday said that it respected the prosecutors’ decision, but some military officials remained adamant that the six people should be prosecuted, saying that they misled the public with misinformation, damaged the image of the armed forces and undermined efforts to safeguard the nation by denigrating the military.
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