The death of Hung Chung-chiu (; 8 September 1989 – 4 July 2013), a
Republic of China (Taiwan) Army specialist in the 542nd Armor Brigade, occurred under
suspicious circumstances while serving a detention sentence in a 269th Mechanized Infantry Brigade barrack during his conscription service spurred allegations of
military abuse
Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...
.
The military investigation has led to the arrest and questioning of several officials, with the case eventually transferred to civilian prosecutors from
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia)
* Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Just ...
. A court subsequently found 13 military officials guilty of various charges and handed out prison sentences of up to eight months.
His death sparked the resignation of
Minister of National Defense
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
Kao Hua-chu
Kao Hua-chu (; born 2 October 1946) is a retired Republic of China Army general and the incumbent Secretary-General of the National Security Council of the Republic of China. He was the Minister of National Defense that appointed to the post by t ...
, an apology from
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from ...
, public protests, major reforms to Taiwan's legal system including the abolition of
court martial
A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
during peacetime, and doubts over the future of
Taiwan's conscription program changes.
Background
Biography
Hung Chung-chiu was raised in
Taichung City
Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...
by his biological uncle. He lived with his adoptive parents and older sister,
Hung Tzu-yung
Hung Tzu-yung (; born 20 December 1982) is a Taiwanese politician. Following the death of Hung Chung-chiu, her younger brother, in 2013, she joined the New Power Party upon its founding in 2015, and won election to the Legislative Yuan. Hung le ...
. Hung attended the
National Cheng Kung University
National Cheng Kung University (NCKU; ) is a public research university located in Tainan, Taiwan. The university is best known for engineering, computer science, medicine, and planning and design.
As a top university in Taiwan, NCKU has played ...
, where he studied in its Transportation and Communication Management Science department. He was accepted to the
master's program in said department,
but chose to serve his
conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
requirement prior to enrolling.
Military detention and death
Hung was serving in the 542nd Brigade in
Hsinchu
Hsinchu (, Chinese: 新竹, Pinyin: ''Xīnzhú'', Wade–Giles: ''Hsin¹-chu²'') is a city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan Province not among the special municipalities, with estimated 450,655 inhabi ...
and had been set to be discharged on 6 July. Hung was sent to military detention at a
Yangmei base on 28 June after he was found carrying a camera phone a few days prior.
One of Hung's fellow conscripts alleged that Hung was wrongfully detained and the victim of a personal vendetta; Hung previously had been at odds with his superiors.
Hung was ordered to perform strenuous exercise drills as part of his punishment, and was hospitalized on 3 July, after reportedly suffering a
heatstroke
Heat stroke or heatstroke, also known as sun stroke, is a severe heat illness that results in a body temperature greater than , along with red skin, headache, dizziness, and confusion. Sweating is generally present in exertional heatstroke, b ...
and falling into a coma.
Hung was initially sent to Ten-Chen Medical Hospital, but was subsequently transferred to
Tri-Service General Hospital
The Tri-Service General Hospital (TSGH; ) is a medical center in Neihu District, Taipei, Taiwan. It is the teaching hospital of the National Defense Medical Center.
History
The hospital was originally established in 1946 as 801 Army General Ho ...
when his body temperature had risen to 44 °C (108 °F).
Hung died of organ failure on July 4, 2013, two days before he was due to be discharged from the military.
Local media reported that his superiors had allegedly refused to give him water during a drill even though he had repeatedly asked for it.
Investigation
On July 15, Taiwan's
defense ministry
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
released initial findings which showed that Hung should have only been given an administrative punishment and that even if he had committed an offense that merited a military detention punishment, that physical drills should not have been allowed under the heat and humidity he experienced.
Questions were raised on the medical and psychological report on Hung that was approved before he was sent for detention at 269th Brigade. Such a medical report would normally take a week to complete, but it was expedited within half a day which military investigators described as "unusual".
Similar questions were raised on delays in emergency transport and treatment of Hung after he fell into coma at the detention barrack; Taiwanese media used civilian CCTV recordings of the journey to 819th Army Hospital to allege that the ambulance was traveling at a slow speed and its sirens turned off.
On 26 July, an
autopsy
An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...
report determined that the Hung's death was "inflicted by others".
A few witnesses who spoke to the media after the death of Hung have reportedly received death threats from unknown sources.
Missing CCTV evidence
Critical segments of the
closed-circuit television
Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...
(CCTV) recording that was recovered by investigations from the 269th Brigade that housed Hung in detention were discovered missing. Military investigators attempted to recover the data, but found both segments to contain only black screens. In one instance, all 16 CCTV cameras went blank for 80 minutes between 2pm to 3.20pm on 3 July.
This has led to allegations of
foul play by Hung's family, the Taiwanese media and opposition members from
Legislative Yuan
The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...
.
Investigators from Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office have also joined in the investigation and have removed the entire 16-channel CCTV equipment from the detention barracks for further investigation. The missing CCTV evidence became a significant focus of this investigation.
Hung's soldier diary was also initially reported as lost, but was subsequently recovered and the last entry was dated 6 months before his death.
Prosecutions
37 military officials received punishment over Hung's death, and 18 cases of criminal prosecutions were initiated under civilian courts.
This included Hung's superiors in 542nd Brigade and officials from the military detention base at 269th Brigade. The highest and second highest-ranking officials to be prosecuted were Major General Shen Wei-chih and Colonel Ho Chiang-chun, commander and deputy commander of 542nd Brigade, respectively.
On 7 March 2014, the Taoyuan District Court found 13 military officials guilty of abuse of power and handed down sentences of up to eight months imprisonment:
* Company Commander Hsu Hsin-cheng received an eight-month imprisonment sentence for abuse of authority.
* Major General Shen Wei-chih, Colonel Ho Chiang-chung and four other officials were sentenced to six months imprisonment for their abuse of authority to detain Hung.
* Staff Sergeant Chen Yi-hsun, who oversaw Hung while he was in detention at 269th Brigade, received a six months imprisonment sentence for abuse which could be commuted to a fine.
Five more officials were acquitted due to insufficient evidence.
The family found the sentences too light and "unacceptable", vowing to file an appeal to Taiwan High Court.
The appeal was decided on 28 June 2017. Major General Shen Wei-chih, First Lieutenant Kao Yu-lung, and Sergeant Lo Chi-yuan were found not guilty. Six other defendants were subject to reduced sentences. The High Court decisions regarding Shen Wei-chih and Chen Yi-hsun were appealed to the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, which upheld Shen's not guilty verdict and sentenced Chen to four months imprisonment and two years of probation.
Public reaction
On 20 July 2013, 30,000 protestors known as Citizen 1985 gathered outside the defense ministry building,
where Deputy Minister of National Defense
Andrew Yang
Andrew Yang (born January 13, 1975) is an American businessman, attorney, lobbyist, and politician. Yang was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary. He is the co-c ...
accepted a petition letter from protestors.
The second protest, held on 3 August by the same group, attracted a record number of followers in Taiwan, reaching over 100,000. In response to these protests
Legislative Yuan
The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...
quickly approved major reforms to Taiwan's military justice system, which included the abolition of
court martial
A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
during peacetime and transfer of military prisoners to civilian prisons.
Members of the 542nd Brigade attended Hung's funeral under intense media scrutiny. Taiwanese
Minister of National Defense
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
Kao Hua-chu
Kao Hua-chu (; born 2 October 1946) is a retired Republic of China Army general and the incumbent Secretary-General of the National Security Council of the Republic of China. He was the Minister of National Defense that appointed to the post by t ...
tendered his resignation after the incident, but was initially declined by
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from ...
.
Kao's tendered his resignation again and this was approved on 30 July.
His deputy Andrew Yang took his post. President Ma visited Hung's family and made assurances on a complete investigation, and has also made a public apology.
Taiwanese TV media and Hung's family have criticized the slow pace and opaqueness of the military investigation.
In particular
Chung T'ien Television
Chung T'ien Television (CTi TV; ), is a nationwide cable TV network based in Taiwan. It belongs to Want Want China Times group, which also owns China Television (CTV).
History
Founded in 1994, CTi TV was originally called the Chinese Televisio ...
's News Tornado have decided to conduct their own private investigation by inviting whistleblowers who had just discharged from the Army and media analysts on air; these whistleblowers alleged to have witnessed several military malpractices.
The Taiwanese government has offered compensation of NT$100 million (US$3.34 million) for Hung's death.
The Hung family insisted that the military officials responsible should bear the compensation amount and rejected the offer, saying that they only consider this matter after the truth is revealed.
Hung's death has cast further doubts over
Taiwan's military conscription program changes due to manpower shortfalls.
Taiwan was supposed to transition to an all-volunteer force by 2015 and shorten military service from one year to four months.
17,447 recruitments were needed for 2013 and only 1,847 was achieved by July, and this incident has shaken public confidence making the target much more difficult to achieve.
Following the lower court rulings on the case, Citizen 1985 and netizens voiced disappointment at the sentences, and plan to organize another demonstration.
See also
*
Death of Martin Anderson
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chung-chiu, Death of Hung
1989 births
2013 deaths
Deaths by person in Asia
Military scandals
Military prisoner abuse scandals
July 2013 events in Asia