-
By Huang Ching-hsuan and Jason Pan / Staff reporters
-
-
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday condemned Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), saying he breached the rules by leaving a legislative committee meeting with classified materials on the military budget.
The Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee held a confidential meeting yesterday morning, during which Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) reported on the NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.57 billion) special defense budget.
“It was fortunate that we realized what was happening and were able to get Huang to return the documents,” DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said.
Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang, left, looks on as Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo, center, shakes hands with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Yeong-kang during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Committee chair DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) had earlier reminded legislators not to leave with documents, as that would contravene the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Yuan (立法院議事規則), Shen said.
Huang said that after leaving the meeting, he realized he had accidentally mixed in confidential materials with other documents.
“I immediately walked back to the room to return the documents. The whole incident lasted less than 30 seconds,” Huang said.
DPP Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) said that during the meeting, all lawmakers signed a nondisclosure agreement.
Huang has been a legislator for some years, so his claim that he had accidentally taken classified materials out of a secret meeting is hard to believe, she said.
Saying it only took 30 seconds is not a good defense, as regulations clearly state that classified materials may not leave the committee room, Lin said.
Huang’s actions were serious, and in accordance with the rules, the incident would be reported to the Disciplinary Committee, which would assess the situation and mete out the appropriate punishment, she said.
