MND says zero tolerance for bullying after new suicide case evidence

Taipei, Oct. 15 (CNA) A Ministry of National Defense (MND) spokesperson said Thursday that the ministry has zero tolerance for bullying in the armed forces after evidence surfaced of alleged bullying in the case of a female Army first lieutenant who died by suicide.

The first lieutenant, surnamed Wang (王), jumped to her death from a building at the Army's 206th Brigade base in Hsinchu County on Sept. 30. The military conducted a postmortem examination the following day, ruling out foul play.

An audio recording uploaded to the social media site Threads was provided by Wang's family to the 6th Army Command on Oct. 12.

The recording apparently captures a conversation between Wang and a male human resources officer. In it a woman can be heard apologizing to a man for "irritating" him while asking about the details of her work. The man repeatedly berated her for failing to remember what she had been taught.

Some local news outlets reported on Oct. 2 that 6th Army Command Director of Political Warfare Chien Ying-hung (簡熒宏) had said bullying played no role in Wang's death, which he said was under judicial investigation.

At a news conference Thursday, Chien was repeatedly asked whether he had ruled out bullying as a factor in Wang's death, but he sidestepped the question.

"We will not be lenient, conceal or protect. The judiciary will find out the whole truth," Chien said, adding that an MND legal team launched an investigation on Oct. 1 and would forward all the evidence it collects to the Hsinchu District Prosecutors' Office and the Hsinchu Military Police Force for review.

MND spokesperson Sun Li-fang (孫立方) said the ministry's fundamental position is to fully cooperate with judicial investigations.

"The Ministry of National Defense has zero tolerance for all forms of bullying, whether between personnel of the same rank, senior-ranking personnel toward junior-ranking personnel, or between more senior and less experienced personnel, regardless of rank," Sun said.

He added that Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) is paying close attention to the case.

Chien added that the HR officer in the recording did not outrank Wang, as both were platoon leaders.

（By Sean Lin）Enditem/AW