Admiral Huang Shu-kuang (黃曙光), Commander of the Republic of China (ROC) Navy, yesterday issued a public apology to Chen Pi-e (陳碧娥) for the death of her son in 1995, which was allegedly due to bullying in the military.
Chen said that her son, Private Huang Kuo-chang (黃國章), who was serving on the Nan Yang, called home on June 9, 1995, before he was to leave Kaohsiung’s Zuoying Harbor, claiming that his life was in danger.
The family received a call that night claiming that Huang Kuo-chang had committed suicide, she said.
However, a letter that she later received from her son showed that he had feared for his life for quite some time, Chen said.
While enhanced photographs provided by Chen appeared to indicate that his death might not have been a suicide, Navy Command did not pursue the case in 1997 and the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office in 2015 closed the case as it had exceeded the statute of limitations in 2005.
Chen became a vociferous military rights activist and director Isaac Wang’s (汪怡昕) documentary about the incident, The Private’s Mom (少了一個之後—孤軍), premiered yesterday at the Taiwan International Human Rights Film Festival in Taipei.
“Over the past 23 years, Mrs Chen has suffered through the pain of personal loss, and the Navy owes Mrs Chen an apology,” Huang Shu-kuang said.
The apology is not to cover up the truth, he said, adding that Chen’s Military Human Rights Association has helped the military modernize and become more transparent.
Huang vowed that bullying would not be tolerated during his tenure, adding that he hoped no such incident would ever happen again.
Meanwhile, Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊), who also attended the premier, said that Taiwan still has a long way to go regarding human rights issues.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has expressed her concern about the issue, and the government is working on improving it, she added.
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
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