MND to review control mechanism for handling confidential papers
ROC Central News Agency
2007-10-02 14:41:29
Taipei, Oct. 2 (CAN) Minister of National Defense Lee Tien-yu said Tuesday the military needs to review its current mechanism for handling confidential papers in order to plug information leaks.
Lee made the remarks after the Apple Daily reported that an orderly at Chief of General Staff Hou Shou-yeh's office had not rigorously followed the standard procedures of destroying shredded confidential papers and had instead sold them to a private recycling operator for profit.
A reporter for the local daily was able to buy two bags of
the shredded confidential papers for NT$40 (US$1.2) and to piece them together to obtain information concerning the movement of China's air and sea forces, Taiwan's military drills, and the movement of U.S. armed forces, according to the report.
Lee, while communicating with the opposition Kuomintang's legislative caucus on next year's central government budget, said that he was indignant upon learning of the news and that Gen. Hou was also very upset.
Lee said that the ministry's paper shredding machines are very old and do not shred documents into small enough strips, which he added is a problem that the ministry needs to address.
On possible information leaks, Lee said that he has instructed related personnel to deal with the matter according to regulations.
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a press release Tuesday that the orderly's actions represented a dereliction of duty.
The MND stressed that the military has established rigorous procedures for the handling and destroying of confidential papers and that the ministry will step up educating of military personnel about secret keeping.
The ministry said it will also review the control mechanism within the military thoroughly to avoid a repeat of the incident.
(By Lilian Wu)
enditem/Li
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
