Control Yuan members who are investigating the alleged defection of army Lieutenant Wang Yi-hung (
Members Lee Shen-yi (
The two spent much of yesterday questioning the bureau's commissioner, Tseng Wen-chang (
Prevention
Lin and Lee said steps must be taken to prevent similar communication lapses from occurring again.
"When the ministry of defense only gives the bureau a list of active duty personnel, rather than a clear list of which soldiers are not allowed to leave the country, of course it's easy for soldiers to leave the country without permission," Lin said.
Wang was given annual leave from Sept. 19 to Sept. 25, but was forbidden from leaving the country. He left the country on an unauthorized trip to Thailand on Sept. 19. From there he flew to Beijing on Oct. 7, together with his wife and 11-month-old baby.
Trip to thailand
Wang traveled to Thailand on Sept. 19, during his scheduled vacation time. Wang had been granted leave, but had not been given permission to leave the country.
He then flew from Bangkok to Beijing on Oct. 7, together with his wife and 11-month-old baby girl.
When he did not return to duty as scheduled on Sept. 25, the military launched an investigation into his whereabouts.
Lee said Tseng told them that the bureau did not receive notice that Wang had illegally left the country until Oct. 15, long after Sept. 25, the day the military says it learned Wang was in Thailand.
"If military personnel did know that Wang was in Thailand at that early date, they had plenty of time to take the necessary measures to order him to return home. Instead, the ministry missed this golden window to redeem the matter. [That failure to act] suggests they are negligent," Lin said.
As for the bureau's role, the two members said they must be far more prudent when it comes to checking the identity and travel documents of military personnel.
"They are not entitled to check these documents without due care," Lee said.
It is believed that Wang forged a permission document from his supervisor to allow him travel to Thailand.
"The bureau of immigration should be held responsible for their careless examination [of Wang's documents]," Lin said.
The two also expressed their doubts about military claims that because of Wang's lower rank, he would not have been privy to confidential information.
Speculation
They also dismissed speculation that Wang may have made an illegal deal with a travel agency to assist his departure, saying they had already ruled out that possibility.
The members also decided they would travel next week to the missile unit in Hualien where Wang was stationed to clarify unclear points of the case.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
RSS