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30 August 2023 (Wednesday)
19 October 2023 (originally published 6 March 2023 as “No Soup For You! Taiwan Forgets to Feed Soldiers on Matsu”).
NOTE: THIS IS AN UPDATE!
No Soup For You!
Taiwan Coast Guard Steals Food from Matsu Soldiers
By Wendell Minnick (Whiskey Mike) 顏文德
TAIPEI - 20 days without beef noodles or egg dumplings for Matsu soldiers is no big deal. It is not really the frontline anymore. Why feed them at all?
Seinfeld might have been right to show respect to the Soup Nazi. But instead of Nazis, it now turns out it was the Coast Guard.
But it was more than just soup. It was no beef or pork or chicken or seafood…just canned foods containing little protein, white rice and instant noodles.
In the hope that an aircraft or maybe a spy satellite would see it, a soldier wrote in gigantic letters on a sandy beach the words of a desperate man:
不要罐頭 (top), 馬防部伙房主菜是白飯(left) and 馬防部伙房都沒肉,肚子餓都吃罐頭,泡麵 (right). Top: “Don’t want canned food.” Left: “The Matsu Defense Command kitchen’s main course is white rice.” Right: “The Matsu Defense Command has no meat, if hungry the only thing is canned food and instant noodles.”
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) claims they were unaware that the ship that carried meat had broken down, as the Coast Guard claimed.
But local Tv news and other media had a field day destroying the MND’s handling of the incident. The local media outlets are anti-military, anti-patriotism, and anti-family (very progressive/woke). It is no surprise that they immediately chose the military for scapegoating.
It now turns out not to have been a logistics issue at all by the MND, but theft by three members of the Coast Guard Administration (CGA).
The CGA is not under the MND, but a civilian law enforcement agency under the administration of the Ocean Affairs Council of the Executive Yuan (President).
Initial reporting indicated that the Coast Guard ship carrying supplies had broken down and that the MND had ignored the issue for a month until local media caught the image scribbled on the beach.
Those reports were bullshit. Yes, the pleas for food were accurate, but the reason there was no food had nothing to do with failure of the MND’s Logistics Command.
According to a 25 April 2023 Focus Taiwan report:
Taipei, April 26 (CNA) The chief of staff of the Matsu Coast Guard Corps, surnamed Lin (林), and two subordinates have been detained and suspended from duty over allegations of misappropriating canned food, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said Wednesday.
A district court in Taipei approved a motion to detain Lin and his two subordinates on April 21 on suspicion of misappropriating canned food destined for the military in 2022, the CGA said.
The case dates back to 2022 when Lin and several subordinates bought canned food for the use of military forces in the Matsu Islands last year and then allegedly resold the goods to Taiwan proper, though it remains unclear how much they pocketed, according to the CGA.
After receiving a tip-off, prosecutors launched an investigation into the case with the Agency Against Corruption, and ended up questioning six individuals, including Lin, on April 20.
The Shilin District Prosecutors Office then filed a motion on April 21 to detain the three individuals, and the Shilin District Court granted the detention request the same day, citing the likelihood of collusion and tampering with evidence, according to the CGA.
Prosecutors suspect that the individuals stole or misappropriated public property in violation of the Anti-Corruption Act, the agency said.
The CGA said, meanwhile, that it has taken disciplinary action in the case, suspending the three suspects from duty, and will continue to fully cooperate with the investigation.
Below is the MND press release (both in Chinese and English) of the Matsu incident at the time; not knowing there were thieves in the CGA at work.
Rough English translation:
Army Matsu Defense Command Press Release
Time: 0910 on 6 March 2023
In response to the media report that "Matsu stopped cooking and temporarily ate military canned food", the Army's Matsu Defense Command today explained as follow:
I. Due to the military chartered ship faulty maintenance it has been unable to successfully transport to Matsu recently. Moreover, the supply of goods is limited, and the supply of meat manufacturers is unstable. Therefore, the supply of meat is insufficient.
II. Lieutenant General Chen, the commander of the headquarters, and Major General Ma, the deputy commander, have personally transported 2 days of frozen meat to the Matsu by transportation ship at 7 a.m. today, and have completed the unloading.
III. This morning a C-130 transport aircraft transported 5.2 tons of all kinds of frozen meat to the Matsu area, which can provide 10-day meals for officers and soldiers in the whole defense area.
IV. The former Matsu military chartered ship is still under maintenance. If there is still a chance of extending the voyage, it will continue to transport food by air by C-130 transport aircraft to meet the actual needs of officers and soldiers.
陸軍馬祖防衛指揮部新聞稿
時間:112年3月6日0910時
針對媒體報導「馬祖莒光斷炊暫吃軍用罐頭」乙情,陸軍馬祖防衛指揮部今(6)日說明如后:
一、囿於本部軍租民船,近期因海象不佳及故障維修,致多次無法順利運補至馬祖地區,且莒光地區貨源有限,肉品廠商供貨不穩,故本月4、5日肉類供應不足,暫以軍用各類罐頭替代,其餘食材均充足。
二、本部指揮官陳中將及副指揮官馬少將,已於今日上午7時親自以交通船運送2日份冷凍肉品至莒光地區,並已完成卸載。
三、今日上午C-130運輸機將前運5.2噸各類冷凍肉品至馬祖地區,可供應全防區官兵10日伙食所需。
四、前運馬祖之軍租民船尚在維修中,若仍有延航之虞,將持續以C-130運輸機採空運方式前運副食品,滿足官兵實需。
END