Seeking Truth and Reconciliation: A Mother's Plea for Justice in the Tsai Hsueh-liang State Compensation Appeal — Press Conference on the Third-Instance Appeal

Post-Meeting Press Release

Uncovering the Truth Behind Military Deaths: Demanding Independent Ballistic Review in the State Compensation Case of Tsai Hsueh-liang

On the eve of Mother’s Day and as the seventh anniversary of her son Tsai Hsueh-liang’s death in the military approaches, Tsai’s mother and the pro bono legal defense team for the Tsai Hsueh-liang case held a press conference to announce that they will file a third-instance appeal in the Tsai Hsueh-liang state compensation case.

Tsai’s mother first expressed gratitude to legislators, the legal defense team, and friends for their help and care, as well as to the media for their relentless reporting, which finally brought a glimmer of hope to the Tsai Hsueh-liang case. Winning the second-instance lawsuit made Tsai’s mother feel the sincerity of the High Court, but she felt no goodwill from the Ministry of National Defense, as the Ministry continues to delay and obstruct the disclosure of the truth. Tsai’s mother repeatedly stated her hope for social justice and fairness, noting that her strength alone is very limited and expressing hope that the public will continue to follow this case. Finally, Tsai’s mother added that she has decided to dedicate the finalized state compensation of NT$1.48 million exclusively to the investigation into the truth of the Tsai Hsueh-liang case, hoping that the Ministry of National Defense will no longer make excuses regarding insufficient funds and will allow the truth to be made public as soon as possible.

The statements of Chen Cheng-chin, Lo Shih-hsiang, and Lee Yi-ting, members of the pro bono legal defense team for the Tsai Hsueh-liang case, are summarized as follows:

The legal defense team affirmed the High Court’s diligent trial of this case, which led to the conclusion ruling out suicide by Tsai Hsueh-liang. However, the legal defense team believes that the High Court’s finding—that Tsai Hsueh-liang was shot and killed due to an accidental close-range misfire of a T65K2 rifle—lacks scientific basis, because the gunshot wound suffered by Tsai Hsueh-liang does not match the pattern of gunshot wounds caused by close-contact firing of a T65K2 rifle, which can be demonstrated respectively by the patterns of the exit and entry wounds.

Challenging the Official Narrative: Forensic Discrepancies and Ballistic Evidence in the Tsai Hsueh-liang Case

Figure: Comparison of exit wound patterns (Left: Exit wound of a military police officer who committed suicide with a T65K2 rifle in mouth at Xindian Prison in 2002; Right: Exit wound of Tsai Hsueh-liang).

In terms of the pattern of the exit wound, the case currently available for comparison is that of a military police officer who committed suicide with a T65K2 rifle in his mouth at Xindian Prison in 2002. The gunshot exit wound of that soldier presented an irregular eversion measuring 5 × 3 centimeters, whereas Tsai Hsueh-liang’s exit wound was 1.2 × 0.5 centimeters; compared to the size of the exit wound in the aforementioned real case, the size of Tsai Hsueh-liang’s exit wound was merely 4 percent. Both involved the T65K2 rifle, and both involved close-contact firing from the mouth toward the head; why would the discrepancy in the size of the two exit wounds reach as much as 96 percent? Even if the bone strength of each person's skull varies, judging by common sense, there would only be a slight difference even if variation exists, so how could it differ by 96 percent? Therefore, when compared with the real case from 2002, one can recognize that Tsai Hsueh-liang’s wound was not caused by a T65K2 rifle.

Regarding the pattern of the entry wound, if the fired firearm was a T65K2 rifle, the front end of the T65K2 rifle is fitted with a flash suppressor, and the flame and gunpowder particles generated during firing would be expelled from the side vents of the flash suppressor. If fired at close contact—whether by suicide or misfire—as long as it was a T65K2 rifle, petal-like burn marks should have been produced around Tsai Hsueh-liang’s lips, which is supported by documented literature. As Tsai Hsueh-liang’s face bore no petal-like flame burn marks, his gunshot wound was evidently not caused by close-contact firing of a T65K2 rifle.

The legal defense team also pointed out that the pattern of an entry wound formed by close-contact firing of a T65K2 rifle can be ascertained simply by placing a quilt or a sheet of A4 white paper over the top of the T65K2 flash suppressor, firing a single round, and observing the flame burn marks produced on the quilt or A4 paper by the intense heat of the T65K2 rifle. This would confirm what pattern of burn marks should have been present on Tsai Hsueh-liang’s face if his gunshot wound had indeed been caused by a T65K2 rifle. Furthermore, to achieve greater precision and accuracy, high-speed cameras and infrared thermal imagers could be used to record the entire process, thereby clearly documenting the high temperatures generated during firing of the T65K2 rifle and understanding the impact of such high firing temperatures on the human body, which would be extremely helpful in uncovering the truth. Tsai’s mother has also promised that as long as the Ministry of National Defense is willing to conduct live-fire testing, she is willing to pay these expenses from the NT$1.48 million awarded to her by the finalized portion of the judgment without spending a single cent of the taxpayers' hard-earned money; thus, the Ministry of National Defense has even less excuse to refuse live-fire testing.

The legal defense team finally emphasized that "what the truth is" and "how to find the truth" are equally important. This third-instance appeal is filed in the hope that following a remand, live-fire testing can be conducted, thereby making the process of pursuing the truth more rigorous. Although one cannot guarantee that the ultimate truth will definitely be uncovered, the hope is to approach the truth as closely as possible through this process, thereby enabling the court's judgment to gain the trust and support of both the parties involved and society. Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense and the Taitung District Prosecutors Office should also respectively reopen investigations to clarify the truth behind Tsai Hsueh-liang’s death.