Hsinchu:Hsinchu County A Ministry of National Defense (MND) spokesperson emphasized the ministry's zero-tolerance stance on bullying within the armed forces following new evidence related to the suicide of a female Army first lieutenant.

According to Focus Taiwan, the first lieutenant, identified by the surname Wang, died by suicide after jumping from a building at the Army's 206th Brigade base on September 30. The military conducted a postmortem examination the next day and ruled out foul play.

Wang's family provided an audio recording to the 6th Army Command on October 12, which was uploaded to the social media platform Threads. The recording appears to capture a conversation between Wang and a male human resources officer, where a woman apologizes for "irritating" the man while discussing her work. The man repeatedly criticized her for not remembering instructions.

Local news reports on October 2 mentioned that Chien Ying-hung, Director of Political Warfare for the 6th Army Command, stated that bullying was not a factor in Wang's death, which remains under judicial investigation. At a news conference, Chien avoided directly answering whether bullying was ruled out as a contributing factor.

Chien stated, "We will not be lenient, conceal or protect. The judiciary will find out the whole truth." He noted that an MND legal team began an investigation on October 1 and will share all collected evidence with the Hsinchu District Prosecutors' Office and the Hsinchu Military Police Force.

MND spokesperson Sun Li-fang reiterated the ministry's commitment to cooperating fully with judicial investigations and stated, "The Ministry of National Defense has zero tolerance for all forms of bullying." Sun also highlighted that Defense Minister Wellington Koo is closely monitoring the case.

Chien clarified that the HR officer in the recording did not outrank Wang, as both held positions as platoon leaders.