Major General Luo Yuan (羅援) of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently quoted a now retired general from the Republic of China (ROC) as saying that both the ROC army and the PLA are “China’s army.”
It is unacceptable and unthinkable that a former ROC general would say such a thing. It left me wondering where the morals that used to be so heavily emphasized in the armed forces have gone.
The saying that civil servants should not be concerned with wealth and soldiers should not be afraid of death implies that those in the military should do their utmost to serve and protect their country, while civil servants should be deeply aware of the principles of right and wrong, be loyal to the public, treat national affairs as if they were their own and make sure all citizens benefit from their actions.
However, at some point these kinds of officials vanished — never to be seen again.
In the past few years, I have joined retired members of the ROC military at conferences in China. Based on what I have seen, some of these officials appear to let their guard down when they go to these events. This, combined with China’s deliberately elaborate receptions, makes some of the military officials so excited that they sometimes forget to use good judgement. They then do and say things without thinking, apparently clueless that their actions not only hurt themselves, but also their nation.
Damage to one’s own reputation is tiny compared with the huge effects such comments and actions can have on a country’s national affairs.
The random comments made by the retired general hurt his personal reputation as well as the reputation of the ROC military, which is no trivial matter. These comments will have a strong impact on active members of the military and how they view the issue of who and what they are fighting for.
The Ministry of National Defense should not be allowed to cover up these types of incidents any longer. It needs to employ strict controls to stop this sort of thing from happening again because it damages the honor of the military and the nation’s dignity.
When similar incidents occurred in the past, the ministry and national security agencies used the excuse of being “unable to control” such incidents. This is what has led to the complicated issues currently at hand. However, these harmful things happen because there is not a strict and effective set of laws or regulations in place to control and restrict the words and actions of retired military officials. As a result, sensitive intelligence could be lost and national secrets leaked, not to mention that government institutions and the nation’s reputation could be hurt.
No matter how many special concessions the Chinese Communist Party bestows upon Taiwan, Beijing will always have ulterior motives. Also, no matter how good cross-strait relations become, the two sides will never truly understand each other or get along well. To be blunt, both sides have their own internal pressures and external obstacles to handle and overcome.
Regardless of how many concessions and incentives China offers or how sincere they may seem, Taiwanese must not stand for retired generals running to China and selling out Taiwan in search of personal honor and glory. These pensioners need to remember that the wealth and riches they enjoy come from the hard-earned money of Taiwanese taxpayers.
Li Hua-chiu is a researcher with the National Policy Foundation.
TRANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON
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