Despite repeated warnings by the Ministry of National Defense to curb their visits to China, retired senior military personnel are continuing to make such trips — and sometimes as part of a group, a top official has said.
The official, who requested anonymity, said a delegation of generals led by retired general and former director of the General Political Warfare Department Hsu Li-nung (許歷農) visited Beijing over the weekend to attend the Huangpu seminar organized by the Beijing government.
Hsu’s “Chung Shang Huangpu Cross-Strait Ties” seminar launched its first activities in Taiwan last year, with Beijing mobilizing the families or descendants of Huangpu military school graduates to come to Taiwan, the official said.
Photo: Taipei Times
CONCERN
The number of retired Taiwanese military personnel who participated in last year’s event was between 40 and 50 people, enough to cause concern within the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), the official said.
Prior to last year’s seminar, Hsu led a delegation of 18 retired military officers, including eight retired generals, on a visit to Beijing and held direct talks with officials from the Central Military Commission (CMC) under the title of director of the “New -Tongmenghui,” the official said.
As Hsu’s delegation received the royal treatment from the CMC last year, the possibility that his meeting over the weekend with CMC officials included an exchange of views on cross-strait matters could not be excluded, the official said.
According to other sources, another 10 retired military personnel visited Sichuan Province between May 31 and yesterday for a golf party with retired People’s Liberation Army officers, and some retired Taiwanese officers were flown directly to Beijing to attend the seminar after the golf trip.
In contrast with meetings two years ago, when the Chinese units in charge would publish press releases and pictures to promote the fact that cross-strait military exchanges were taking place, this year’s golf party and seminar was “abnormally low profile,” the official said.
ELECTION EFFECT
Whether this is because Taiwan has entered its election season or other election-related aspects requires further observation, the official said.
Former Political Warfare Bureau deputy director and executive officer Chen Hsing-kuo (陳興國), the main coordinator for the seminar in Taiwan last year, said the seminar was held in Beijing this year because the numbers of retired officers from Taiwan participating in the event would not be as high as last year.
Chen also confirmed that some of the retired officers attending the golf party in Sichuan were directly flown to Beijing to attend the seminar, but said he could not say how many participated.
Chen also confirmed that Hsu was flown directly to Beijing from Hubei Province.
A senior manager at the Huang Fu-hsing branch of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said they had received invitations to the golf party and the seminar, but after due consideration felt that it was best not to attend.
If anyone in the Huang Fu--hsing branch attended an event in China, they would do so through the KMT and Chinese Communist Party channels, the manager said, adding they would not go as independent tourist groups.
If some of the retired officers wished to attend the golf party or any seminars, the manager said that as long as they did not say they were acting on the behalf of the Huang Fu-hsing branch, it could not interfere.
Translated By Jake Chung, Staff Writer
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to lead a delegation to China next month, saying she hopes to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and bring stability to the Taiwan Strait. “I am grateful and happy to accept this invitation,” Cheng said in a statement from the KMT chairperson’s office. Cheng said she hopes both sides can work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, enhance exchange and cooperation, bring stability to the Taiwan Strait and improve people’s livelihoods. At today's news conference, Cheng said any efforts to
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
RSS