"I am very distressed over the military's recent performance and I would like to express my utmost apologies for letting the public down," Chen told reporters.

His statement came after a retired lieutenant general and several other senior officers were indicted on graft charges while a former chief of the general staff was suspected of taking bribes in connection to the case.

Meanwhile, two navy soldiers made national headlines Saturday for allegedly stabbing a Vietnamese prostitute to death in southern Kaohsiung city.

On Thursday, the defence ministry formed a task group to investigate the corruption scandal and pledged to bring the implicated servicemen to trial within the next three months.

The scandal surfaced after prosecutors sought a 22-year jail term for former Lieutenant General Yuan Hsiao-lung, the former deputy chief of the logistics command, on charges of accepting bribes, blackmail and leaking secrets.

The case revived rumours that some military officers were promoted to general through bribery during the eight-year rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which ended in May last year.

Taiwan has been embroiled in a political and judicial drama for months since the arrest and detention last year of former DPP president Chen Shui-bian on corruption charges.

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Beijing (AFP) March 26, 2009
China said Thursday it had lodged a formal protest with the United States after US lawmakers passed a resolution defending Taiwan.