Thirty-seven retired high-ranking military officers attended a political event addressed by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing earlier this month, drawing criticism from Premier Lin Chuan (林全), who condemned them for being disloyal to their nation and called for the possible cancelation of their pensions if they did not obtain government approval prior to their trip.
On Sunday last week, the Chinese-language China Times published an editorial entitled “Patriots persecuted by those hating the nation. How ridiculous!” discussing the incident and highlighting five points.
First, if a retired military officer were to attend a political event addressed by a US president to pay tribute to former US president George Washington and stands up during the US national anthem, should they be considered disloyal and be deprived of their pension?
Second, foreign dignitaries attending this year’s Double Ten National Day celebration listened to President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) speech and stood up during the playing of the national anthem; does that mean they betrayed their own country?
Third, if the answers to the first two questions are no, then why is the situation involving the 37 retired officers different?
Fourth, the editorial said that the former officers did not provide classified military information to Beijing and that they should be allowed their rights to freedom of speech, movement and assembly under the Constitution.
Fifth, it said that at the Double Ten National Day celebration, former presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) refused to stand up and sing during the playing of the national anthem or bow to the portrait of Republic of China founder Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), but no one from the pan-blue camp demanded that he be punished.
The most amusing and important question posed by the editorial was: “Is it because the People’s Republic of China is an enemy country?”
The answer to that question is a resounding “Yes.” How else could the situation, especially from a military perspective, be described? The retired military officers’ visit to Beijing was problematic because they were high-ranking military personnel. Technically speaking, the nation still considers retired officers as members of the military.
If the China Times does not think that China is an enemy, why not invite retired Chinese People’s Liberation Army officers to next year’s Double Ten National Day celebration and see if they will come? Would they listen to the national anthem and Tsai’s address and kowtow to Sun’s portrait?
Legally speaking, is China an enemy country? Those found engaging in espionage are usually charged with violating the National Security Act (國家安全法), which applies to actions involving “a foreign country or mainland China.” Although the Criminal Code has rules on treason, it is defined as “colluding with a foreign state or its agent,” which might not apply to those colluding with China, as some argue that China is not a foreign state.
According to Article 10 of the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法), any country or group engaged in a military confrontation with the Republic of China is an enemy of the nation. Therefore, even if China is not seen as a foreign country, according to the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces it is still an enemy.
It is deplorable that because of the pro-unification camp’s preposterous logic China is merely defined as an enemy rather than an enemy country, despite its threat to exterminate Taiwan’s armed forces. Only someone who has lost their mind would believe that China is not a country.
Christian Fan Jiang is a member of the Northern Taiwan Society.
Translated by Tu Yu-an
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