ZONE:

The Taiwan Military Police Command yesterday made a statement yesterday in a local Chinese newspaper saying they would revise a rule which bans gay from serving as guards at the Presidential Office and other vital governmental buildings.

The statement was issued after their previous announcement on Wednesday saying that they would reject gay candidates for military police service.

Defence Minister Tang Yiau-ming told government lawyers that the ban against military police candidates with "sexual orientation impairment" would be dropped because "the military preserves the security of all citizens, including homosexuals," according to a report by the Taipei Times.

Although the rule does not explicitly mention homosexuality, the rule uses the term `sexual orientation impairment' which is believed to be referring to homosexuality," a spokesman for the military police command said.

The spokesman added that although they "don't remember when the rule was formulated," he was certain that "'sexual orientation impairment' was considered a mental illness at the time."

"Now times have changed. The rule is not quite appropriate by current standards. We will revise it to show our respect for the rights of soldiers, regardless of their sexual orientation," the official said.

About 10,000 military police guard important government offices and military installations on the island.

In previous media reports, a military spokesman said that Taiwan's army, air force and navy do not reject gay men or lesbians.