The Ministry of National Defense today confirmed a data leak of basic personal information about certain high-ranking officials in response to a report from Chinese-language media, but said it did not include any information about personal asset holdings.
The China Times this morning published a report saying that personal data of people ranked colonel and above — including Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) — was leaked last week.
Citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter, the paper said that the ministry’s Ethics Office was in the process of compiling information on the personal holdings of senior officials, who are required by law to report their assets.
Photo: Taipei Times
The office usually sends the information to each individual separately, it said.
However, a file containing all the information the office had compiled was accidentally sent to the declarants and their military units, the paper reported.
Pseudonyms are used for military personnel for security purposes, but their real names are used for the asset report, the paper said.
In a news release, the ministry said that the office on Tuesday last week sent the asset reporting list to the appropriate units for authorization.
After an investigation, the ministry said it found some leaks of sensitive personal information in the reporting process.
The data included their service unit, title, name and reporting year, but not any personal savings information, real-estate holdings or investments, it said.
The ministry said it has already informed the recipients to return the document and perform risk control.
It also vowed to investigate the cause of the negligence and strengthen communication to prevent a recurrence.
Taiwan yesterday expelled four China Coast Guard vessels that entered Taiwan-controlled restricted waters off Lienchiang County (Matsu) shortly after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army announced the start of its “Joint Sword-2024B” drills around Taiwan. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a statement that it had detected two China Coast Guard ships west of Nangan Island (南竿) and another two north of Dongyin Island (東引) at 8am yesterday. After Chinese ships sailed into restricted waters off Matsu shortly afterward, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch deployed four patrol vessels to shadow and approach the vessels, it said. The incidents pushed up to 44 the number
The government has issued a deportation order for a Spanish fugitive, ordering him to leave the country within 10 days, as he is wanted by European authorities for allegedly operating a car rental scam. National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials yesterday said Salvador Alejandro Llinas Onate, 48, had been notified that he must leave Taiwan, as he was wanted for committing serious crimes. The Spaniard has been indicted by Italian prosecutors for allegedly leading a 30 million euros (US$32.74 million) car rental scam and setting up a fraudulent company in Trento, Italy. The deportation order is based on Article 18 of
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) is to make it compulsory for all fishing vessels with gross tonnage under 20 tonnes to install an automatic identification system (AIS) by next year to prevent Chinese speedboat incursions. CGA Director-General Chang Chung-lung (張忠龍) said his agency has been in talks with the Maritime Port Bureau and the Fisheries Agency to demand that all Taiwanese fishing vessels to install an AIS before the end of next year. All Taiwanese offshore fishing vessels with gross tonnage of 20 tonnes or higher have already installed an AIS, an automatic tracking system that uses transceivers on ships and is
Prosecutors yesterday questioned Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and former Taipei deputy mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲), while members of the other two main political parties called on Ko, a former Taipei mayor, to come clean about the ongoing corruption probe. Ko was taken by bailiffs to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, where he was questioned for two-and-a-half hours in the morning, returning at about noon to the Taipei Detention Center in New Taipei City, where he has been held in pretrial detention since Sept. 5. In the afternoon, prosecutors reportedly asked Pong about his role while working in Ko’s