Regarding the media coverage of “The President is Here, Bullets Stolen from the Hua-tung Defense Command”, the Hua-tung Defense Command has stated today (23^rd) that the relevant content is a misinterpretation, and the command hereby clarifies such statement to avoid any confusion.

The Hua-tung Defense Command pointed out that the affiliated cadre training class implemented the T91 rifle live ammunition shooting course on December 27^th last year (2018) and discovered that 1 magazine (contains 6 rounds of 5.56mm bullets) was missing during the ammunition inventory after the shooting course; sergeant Liao admitted to have hidden the bullets during the inspection of the unit cadre and has handed in the bullets. The command has transferred sergeant Liao to the judiciary for investigation on January 9^th this year (2019) and sentenced him with a major demerit as well as disposal according to the principle of “sentencing and punishment at the same time”. The exaggerated content of the media coverage did not interfere with the President’s supervision schedule in January, and the command has provided the truth during the enquiry of the media; however, the media still reported unilaterally, hence the command hereby solemnly protests such action and asks that the media should fulfill social responsibility and avoid confusing the mass, which may impact the reputation of the military.

The Hua-tung Defense Command has further stated that the command will be cooperating with the investigation of the judiciary and utilize this incident as a case propaganda as well as continue to reinforce the discipline requirements of shooting ranges and armory control to prevent similar incident from occurring again.