A colonel who was a deputy section chief at the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology left classified documents on a planned rocket in the basket of a Taipei rental bicycle has been given a major demerit and moved to another position, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
After attending a meeting at the ministry in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area, the colonel, surnamed Hsieh (謝), rode a YouBike to the Dazhi MRT Station, but forgot to take the classified documents when parking the bike, ministry spokesman Major General Chen Chung-chi (陳中吉) told a news conference in Taipei.
The next user of the bike happened to be a military police and finance officer surnamed Tseng (曾) who was headed to the ministry for a meeting, he said.
Photo: Hsu Chu-min, Taipei Times
After discovering the classified documents, Tseng immediately delivered them to the ministry’s security division, which then launched an investigation, he said.
The division found that the documents had not passed into other people’s hands or been leaked, and ordered the institute to review and penalize anyone involved in the misconduct, he said, calling it a case of personal negligence.
Hsieh received a major demerit and was moved to another position, and supervisors involved received demerits or warnings, he said, adding that Tseng was recognized for recovering the documents.
Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) has also asked the institute to review its classified information protocol, Chen said, adding that he hopes the incident would serve as a learning opportunity and remind military members to stay alert.
Local media reported that the incident occurred at the end of last year and that the documents contained information about a project code-named “Chi Lin” (麒麟) involving the development of low-earth orbit rockets to be used for delivery.
Also at the news conference, Chen rejected speculation that the frequency with which US warships pass through the Taiwan Strait has increased.
The waters surrounding Taiwan have always been busy international waters, he said, adding that the military has a firm grasp on the passage of foreign vessels and aircraft near Taiwan.
The ministry usually waits until missions are complete before announcing them to the public, he said, calling it the responsible way to handle such matters.
On Tuesday, the ministry confirmed that a US Navy warship and supply ship had on Monday sailed northward through the Strait.
It was the second such passage this year, and the fifth since July last year, the ministry said.
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
SOLUTIONS NEEDED: Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers due to population decline, the minister of economic affairs said in Washington President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration is considering a plan to import labor to deal with an impending shortage of engineers and other highly skilled workers, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said in Washington on Tuesday. Kuo was leading a delegation attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit. Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers for high-end manufacturing jobs by 2040, he said. Ministry of Economic Affairs officials are still calculating the precise number of workers that are needed, as it works on loosening immigration restrictions and creating incentives, Kuo said. Taiwanese firms operating factories in the US and other countries would