Military denounces man who defected to China in 1979

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday denounced former army officer and current Chinese scholar Justin Lin (林毅夫), who defected to China in 1979, as a disgrace to the military.

"Loyalty is the most valued virtue for a serviceman. We are ashamed of what Lin did to the military," said MND spokesman Major General Huang Sui-sheng (黃穗生).

Twenty-three years since he was first listed as missing, the MND has now started to take legal action against him.

"Military prosecutors issued on Nov. 15 a wanted order for Lin on the charge of defection. The logistics command, which had given, on behalf of the MND, nearly NT$1 million compensation to Lin's family in Taiwan, will also file a lawsuit against Lin's family for the return of the money," Huang said.

Lin's family was awarded the compensation because the military initially believed Lin had died.

The MND says it had taken so long to resolve the Lin case because it did not have enough evidence to determine that he was in fact a defector.

On May 16, 1979, Lin went missing from his unit on the frontline island of Kinmen, but there was initially no indication he had defected to China. Lin was then the leader of a company guarding one of the most important positions on the island that is closest to China.

Many of Lin's superiors and colleagues suspected Lin might have swum to China but there was no evidence to support the suspicion.

Chinese troops stationed in Fujian Province's Xiamen did not, as they usually did, announce the defection from Taiwan using loudspeakers positioned across the narrow strip of water from Kinmen.

The military had no choice but to list Lin first as missing and then, after one year, as deceased.

Lin reappeared several years ago as a Chinese scholar and admitted in public that he was the Taiwan army officer who swam to China from Kinmen in 1979. However, this fact did not prompt the military to reopen its investigation of the Lin case.

The military only took action after Lin requested earlier this year to return to Taiwan to attend the funeral of his father.