This episode delves into the story of suspicious deaths and cover-ups in Taiwan’s military, centering on the tragic case of Corporal Tsai Hsueh-liang. Through interviews with grieving families, human rights lawyers, and military representatives, we explore the systemic challenges soldiers face and the fight for transparency and accountability.
Balancing powerful personal narratives with in-depth investigations, this episode sheds light on the sacrifices of Taiwanese soldiers and the urgent need for reform.
Balancing powerful personal narratives with in-depth investigations, this episode sheds light on the sacrifices of Taiwanese soldiers and the urgent need for reform.
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00:00At that time, it was 11.45pm.
00:26My son called me and told me that he was going to take the day off tomorrow.
00:29Two days later, it was Mother's Day.
00:32He hoped that I could invite my grandmother.
00:35Later, at noon,
00:37the head tutor called me and told me that my son
00:40had accidentally been shot at the shooting range.
00:44I asked the head tutor,
00:46where was he shot?
00:47The head tutor replied,
00:51Mom, are you coming to see him?
00:53I said, of course I'm going to see him.
00:56He was shot.
00:58On the way to the ambulance,
01:00I received another call from the head tutor.
01:04That call
01:06was really heartbreaking.
01:08I didn't know that my son was dead.
01:12The next day,
01:14the forensic doctor said that he wanted to examine the body.
01:17That day, he issued a death certificate
01:20and said that he had committed suicide.
01:23He had already agreed with us
01:25to not let us see the forensic doctor.
01:28He told us that we had to sign the document.
01:30He told us that we had to accept it.
01:32He told us that we had to sign the document
01:36according to the forensic report.
01:40I refused to accept it.
01:41After the funeral,
01:43I kept looking for an expert.
01:46I kept looking for
01:49where there were soldiers
01:51to learn about the ecology and culture in the capital.
01:56I had to find the truth for my son.
02:03Earlier this year,
02:04the Taiwanese military reported a sharp rise
02:07in the number of personnel suicides
02:09across all armed forces in the country.
02:13Commentators were quick to point the finger
02:15at growing Chinese aggression
02:17and increasingly threatening pall of war.
02:20But for many campaigners,
02:22unexplained deaths in the military
02:24are neither a new nor surprising phenomenon.
02:27Over the last decade,
02:29families have consistently alleged malpractice,
02:32mistreatment, and widespread cover-ups
02:35inside an opaque, locked-down military justice system
02:40which works only to defend itself
02:43and avoid accountability.
02:45In July, the appointment of a new defense minister
02:48and passage of a legal framework
02:50to protect military personnel
02:53brought quiet hope
02:54that long-awaited justice could be on the horizon,
02:57but whether they can deliver systemic reform
03:00or right historical injustices remains unknown.
03:04Welcome to Finding Formosa,
03:07Marshalling Justice.
03:10The first time a suspicious death in the military
03:13drew serious mainstream attention
03:15was over 10 years ago.
03:17Media speculation over the death of an ROC soldier
03:20under suspicious circumstances continues to snowball.
03:25Hung Chung-Chu was a 24-year-old soldier
03:27who died while under confinement.
03:29The military surrendered 80 minutes of video footage
03:33which contained black images.
03:35Three cameras that recorded black or blurred footage
03:37include the one filming Hung Chung-Chu's self
03:41as well as the two cameras opposite him
03:43trained on the room where he performed strenuous exercises.
03:47The military high court said it found no alterations made
03:50to the main system.
04:13Nearly 250,000 people took to the streets yesterday.
04:16This has set a record
04:18drawing double the number of protesters
04:20of other large-scale demonstrations.
04:49The reform was a success.
04:50But they also promoted
04:52the Military Crimes Investigation Committee
04:54to investigate past military crimes
04:56and the statements of family members.
04:58But the committee
05:00didn't even judge a single case.
05:02Not a single one.
05:03My brother's last name is Huang,
05:06Huang Zhijie.
05:07He's always been a fan of the Battleship Battalion
05:10and the military officers.
05:11His dream was to join the military.
05:12So he joined the military as soon as he graduated from college.
05:15He was a Special Ops soldier in the beginning.
05:17He was a Special Ops soldier in the beginning.
05:20He was very happy in the Special Ops.
05:22But he wanted to improve himself
05:23and become a military officer.
05:25He had to be a full-time soldier
05:26in the 2nd Airborne Division.
05:28But that's not what he was.
05:29They were supposed to be full-time soldiers.
05:32But they weren't.
05:33For example, he was a chef.
05:34He had to teach doctors how to use a knife.
05:37That was impossible.
05:38So other people taught him how to cook.
05:40But they didn't listen to him.
05:42But he had to do what the officers told him to do.
05:45So he had to do it himself.
05:47He worked overtime until 2 or 3 a.m.
05:48If he didn't do a good job,
05:50the superiors would scold him.
05:52What's worse was the company commander.
05:54The military regulations said
05:55that if you went to bed at 2 or 3 a.m. the day before,
05:57you were not allowed to wear a uniform.
05:58But he had to wear it for about 10 days.
06:01He had to wear it every day.
06:02He had to wear a uniform at 5.30 a.m.
06:04for the whole day.
06:06I even saw it with my own eyes.
06:07My colleague was bullied by the officers.
06:10When I was serving,
06:12I was assigned to the Ministry of National Defense's
06:15prison in Tainan.
06:17When I was in the prison,
06:18I was very shocked.
06:21The prison was like an independent kingdom.
06:23The so-called prison chief
06:24was like the king in the prison.
06:27When my colleague got to the end,
06:29he even wanted to kill himself.
06:34From this, I learned that
06:36in a very dictatorial
06:38and un-democratic government,
06:40there were indeed very serious problems.
06:43It also led to the Hong Zhongqiu case,
06:45the Li Mingxing case,
06:47and even the case of Huang Xinzong
06:49in the recent 269 case.
06:51On April 15th,
06:53he sent a message to my mother
06:55saying that he was in a bad situation.
06:56My mother was very nervous.
06:58So I called him,
06:59but he didn't answer.
07:00The next day, on April 16th,
07:01at around 5 p.m.,
07:02I heard that
07:03something had happened to my brother.
07:06He also told the media
07:08that my brother had an affair.
07:10He didn't even investigate it.
07:12I've been talking about it for four years.
07:14I hope I can investigate it again
07:16and give justice to my brother.
07:18Many people who hurt my brother are still alive.
07:20They can get married and have children.
07:22But my brother's life is gone.
07:26In front of the court and the legislature,
07:29I saw the family of Junyan.
07:32He was already in front of the legislature
07:35and had been campaigning on the streets for years.
07:39But the government and the people
07:41didn't seem to care.
07:43After seeing him for years,
07:44I felt very sad.
07:47So I wanted to use my experience
07:50to help them solve these problems.
07:53There was a member of the Association of Disabled People.
07:57His brother was involved in the Huang Zhonghui case.
08:00When we went to see his case,
08:02it was obvious that
08:03he was under a lot of pressure
08:07because of his inappropriate tasks and administrative measures.
08:09We didn't admit that he was a victim of abuse.
08:12The army is full of false culture.
08:16Although some people came to investigate,
08:19they said that the investigation was not public
08:20and that they had to give it to the prosecutors.
08:22Who investigated it?
08:23The people in the army.
08:25The 26th Brigade is a military fortress.
08:28There were more than 80 surveillance cameras there.
08:31They were all good.
08:33When they were sent to the prosecutors,
08:34they said that they were all broken.
08:36Do you think it's possible?
08:37It's a military fortress.
08:39The computer couldn't be disconnected.
08:41How could your own computer
08:42not be able to be disconnected?
08:44My brother's cell phone
08:47was taken away by the military police.
08:49So you see, we don't have any evidence.
08:52At that time, we saw the X-ray.
08:55It was very clear in the X-ray
08:57that two teeth were stuck in the back of his head.
09:00If it was a cold gun, how would the teeth
09:01get to the outlet of the bullet hole
09:04and get stuck there?
09:06So the next day, we went to see the crime scene again.
09:09Near the crime scene,
09:11they used ropes to tie up the scene.
09:15There was no way to see any suspicious points.
09:17The scientific evidence at the scene was also incomplete.
09:20The photos were incomplete.
09:21The bullets were also not collected well.
09:24Related guns
09:25and the blood on the scene
09:27were also blurred in all aspects.
09:29The witnesses' testimonies were also incomplete.
09:32Later, Cai's mother spent money
09:34to look for folk testimonies.
09:36She found that this could not have been a suicide.
09:40Later, because she went to interrogate President Tsai Ing-wen,
09:44she restarted the official formal identification.
09:47The identification results also confirmed
09:50that this could not have been a suicide.
09:52Unexpectedly, after the identification report came out,
09:54the Taiwan Taichung Bureau of Investigation
09:56refused to carry out further investigation.
09:58We think this is very suspicious.
10:01There are still many things happening now.
10:03When something happened to us before,
10:05there was a family.
10:06His son was a substitute doctor.
10:08He cut a dozen cuts here.
10:09He cut a dozen cuts here.
10:11He cut a dozen cuts here.
10:12The prosecutor said he killed himself.
10:14Do you think it's possible?
10:15Last year, he said
10:17my brother did encounter these bullying.
10:19All these things happened.
10:21He confirmed that these things did happen.
10:24He also corrected it.
10:25But it's been a year.
10:27The people who should be punished have not been punished.
10:29They are even promoted.
10:31That doesn't mean that they are telling us
10:33that we are responsible for being bullied.
10:34You can do whatever you want.
10:35We have the Ministry of National Defense
10:37to help us as a backer.
10:39You can only shut up.
10:41So far this year,
10:42the number one reason for the death of Taiwanese soldiers
10:44is suicide.
10:47Despite this,
10:49the Ministry of Defense maintains
10:51that it has a growing suite of protections
10:53for vulnerable service members.
10:56Wu Yongfu is a military doctor
10:58who treats at-risk soldiers on a daily basis.
11:26We have always had a lot of problems
11:28related to illiteracy and shame.
11:30But at present,
11:32the military is very humane.
11:35There was no such resource
11:37in the past.
11:39At present, most people
11:41have this concept.
11:42My comrade-in-arms, my subordinates,
11:44or my superior,
11:45when they encounter such a mental illness,
11:47we are willing to let them seek treatment.
11:50So I think in general,
11:52this illiteracy is already improving.
11:55Taiwan is a diverse environment.
11:59The Three Military General Hospitals and the Beidou Branch Hospital
12:00have always been at a disadvantage
12:04in terms of mental health education
12:05and health care in the Taiwan military.
12:07We are also entrusted
12:09with modernized military training
12:13to help our soldiers
12:14improve their mental health.
12:16This is also a part of our
12:17continued progress in the future.
12:20And quietly,
12:21it seems that legislation
12:23might be catching up with the times.
12:25On July 15th this year,
12:27the legislature passed a law
12:30which promises to bring the protections
12:32enjoyed by civilian workers
12:34to the military rank and file.
12:36Many have related its draft
12:38and passing to the appointment
12:39of Wellington Koo as Defense Secretary
12:41earlier this year.
12:43He was the president of the Taiwan Human Rights Promotion Council.
12:46I asked him
12:48if he was willing to
12:49serve as a lawyer for the Red Middle East.
12:51And he agreed right away.
12:53And this is an obligation to help.
12:56That is to say,
12:57as a human rights lawyer,
12:59and now he is the Minister of National Defense of Taiwan,
13:02we can work harder
13:04to make the soldiers in the base
13:06have more human rights
13:08and more protection.
13:11The military
13:13and military justice
13:14is a very indicative meaning.
13:16A wrong case like Cai Xueliang
13:19could be improved.
13:22Because if Cai Xueliang
13:24had the administrative procedures
13:26of the military to file a complaint,
13:28I think it is very likely
13:29that he would not end up
13:30with this kind of death case.
13:32But the problem he highlighted
13:34is that the Military Criminal Code
13:35and our criminal law
13:36do not have enough mechanisms
13:38to reflect the mistakes
13:41made in the past.
13:43When will this situation
13:45end in Taiwan?
13:48So I urge
13:49the establishment of a third party
13:51to supervise the Military Criminal Code
13:54and the Criminal Criminal Code
13:56to do a revision.
13:59Then let our families
14:02have a chance
14:03to fight for our families.
14:06Then we can
14:08not be so hurtful.
14:10Yes.
14:11Xueliang, I love you.
14:15I also hope that
14:16with your case,
14:17we can protect
14:19the children of other families.
14:22As long as the country's sincerity can be done,
14:25I believe that
14:26every child who goes to the military
14:29will be valued by our country,
14:32respected and valued by everyone.
14:34This is what I want to do
14:36for you.
14:39With your case,
14:41let's do this
14:44to protect other children.
14:46Okay, thank you.