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Lawmaker slams
security leak
WASTE NOT: A defense official said while the
discarded papers found on a street in Penghu were low-classified documents, it
constituted a breach in military intelligence
By Su Yung-yao / Staff Reporter
The discovery of classified military documents on the streets of the outlying
island of Penghu over the weekend is further evidence of the military¡¦s failure
to keep tabs on sensitive information, a legislator said yesterday.
A Penghu resident on Saturday came upon a pile of military documents that
included plans to repel an invasion for Magong Airport as well as defensive and
offensive staging points.
Vice Minister of National Defense Lin Yu-pao (ªL©ó°\) said the 18 documents were
from 503 Brigade, which has already been disbanded, and that though they did not
contain any highly classified material, it nevertheless constituted a serious
breach in military intelligence.
Aside from a public apology, Lin said there was room for improvement in terms of
management and authorization of classified material.
He added that Army Commander General Yang Tien-hsiao (·¨¤Ñ¼S) had visited Penghu
for detailed investigations on Saturday.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-lang (½²·×·ă) said a navy
official had allegedly brought the classified documents home for use as memo
pads and was even giving the documents to his wife for use as scratch paper in
school.
The documents included inventory management information, such as the contents of
naval ships, Tsai said, adding that the reverse side of the documents had been
used as note-taking memo pads for learning English.
With this latest instance of an intelligence leak, it is evident that the
military¡¦s management of paperwork is ¡§coming apart,¡¨ Tsai said.
Navy headquarters said that a military official surnamed Sung (§º), who served as
a consultant for the Institute for Information Industry (III), had taken out the
documents for use as scratch paper.
The III is an NGO jointly developed by the government and the private sector to
support the development of the information industry.
An official said that while the classification level of the documents was low,
their use as notepaper nevertheless highlighted the need to tighten management
of classified information.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Tsai Chin-lung (½²ÀA¶©) said fears of
security breaches also extended to retired military officers who in recent years
have been attending symposiums in China.
With the annual Han Kuang series of military exercises simulating an attack from
China concluding last week, it was unusual of the government to be talking of
peace with Beijing.
Lin said that after a certain period, retired officers were like ordinary
citizens and that the government was not in a position to comment on their words
and actions.
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