The People First Party (PFP) legislative caucus yesterday claimed that pro-independence soldiers have been granted leave to vote in Saturday's local government elections, while their pro-unification counterparts have not.
The PFP demanded that top intelligence and military officials offer an explanation for such a policy.
In response, the Ministry of National Defense dismissed the PFP's claim as completely baseless.
PFP Legislator Chao Liang-yen (趙良燕) yesterday said her electoral service center in Kaohsiung County has received several calls from soldiers complaining about the leave policy for election day.
Chao said she suspects that National Security Council Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), who doubles up as the DPP's campaign manager, has meddled in the matter, bypassing Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (
The policy is targeted at areas where DPP candidates are suffering from the party's flagging popularity, Chao said.
Those whose household registration is in Taipei County will even be transported home by bus, Chao said.
She said she is worried that the soldiers will be brainwashed during the trip by DPP campaign videos played on the bus.
PFP Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀), who also serves as the party's director of policy research, invited Chiou and Lee Jye to visit the caucus and respond to the allegations, and to tell them whether they have tried to use any "improper methods" to manipulate the elections.
Chang said Chiou should resign from the National Security Council and install himself at DPP headquarters if he likes elections so much.
He also demanded that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and top intelligence and military officials remain politically neutral and stop campaigning for DPP candidates.
In response, ministry spokesman Rear Admiral Liou Chih-chien (劉志堅) yesterday said the military had never proposed any change in leave policy for officers and enlisted personnel for election day, and that military personnel would follow their normal weekend schedules which would determine whether they have leave this Saturday.
Liou said the PFP's claims about Lee and Tsai were fabrications.
He added the law stipulates that the military cannot get involved in political activities, and that the military has abided by the law.
Meanwhile,Vice President Annette Lu (
The Presidential Office's Department of Public Affairs said that the vice president changed her itinerary on her way to a campaign rally in Taichung County on Sunday because she was suffering from a recurrence of unbearable lower back pain.
She decided to attend a rehabilitation exercise program first, and by the time her treatment was finished, the campaign event she had planned to attend was over.
Additional reporting by Rich Chang and Chiu Yu-tzu
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS