President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday called for the drafting of a “code of conduct” for retired generals after a former general on a visit to China was quoted as saying that the Republic of China (ROC) Army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are both “China’s army.”
Retired generals should put the interests of Taiwan above all, present a transparent itinerary and exercise prudence when visiting China, Presidential Office spokesman Fan Chiang Tai-chi (范姜泰基) quoted Ma as saying at the Presidential Office.
“Retired generals are not government officials, but their words and actions remain very sensitive ... If the media reports are true, then the [general’s] comments went against national policy and should be condemned,” Fan Chiang said.
According to Fan Chiang, Ma was “stunned” when he learned of the reported quote.
Ma’s directive follows Taiwanese media citing a Chinese media report quoting PLA Major General Luo Yuan (羅援) as saying that a Taiwanese speaker recently told a gathering of retired generals from both sides of the Taiwan Strait in China: “From now on, we should no longer separate the ROC Army and the PLA. We are all China’s army.”
The Chinese report identified the speaker as retired Air Force General Hsia Ying-chou (夏瀛洲).
DENIAL
Hsia denied making such a remark, but the reports sparked criticism from both Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers, who urged the government to set clear rules on military personnel exchanges with China.
Ma yesterday met with National Security Council Secretary-General Wu Wei-chen (胡為真), Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) and Veteran Affairs Commission Minister Tseng Jing-ling (曾金陵) to discuss the incident.
Ma said government bodies should strengthen efforts to promote the administration’s cross-strait policy, especially its “three noes” policy of no unification, no independence and no use of force, Fan Chiang said.
Ma said that even if Hsia was misquoted, the government “has learned a lesson” from the incident, Fan Chiang said.
Unconvinced, the DPP called on Ma to pay the “ultimate responsibility,” saying Hsia’s alleged comments had demoralized the armed forces and “harmed national sovereignty.”
APOLOGY
“It’s the result of the [government’s] attitude of bending over backwards and constantly seeking China’s favor that Ma, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, has adopted since assuming office,” DPP spokesperson Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said. “He should correct the public perception and personally apologize to the public.”
The DPP has asked for a full review of the pension benefits that retired senior officers who have traveled to China still enjoy, saying it is “unfair” for Taiwanese taxpayers to be subsidizing their “Chinese ideals.”
While some DPP lawmakers demanded the government immediately revoke Hsia’s pension and other retirement benefits, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said the government needed proof first that the former general broke the law before it could withhold his pension.
“It is unreasonable to make such a demand when we’re still trying to determine whether he actually made those remarks,” Hsieh said.
Hsia has stressed that he never made the comments when questioned by the media.
In the face of the media scrutiny, the retired general yesterday said that KMT and Ma administration officials had also frequently traveled to China.
“I am of the Shandong temperament and the government’s attitude on this issue is quite heart chilling,” Hsia said, alluding to the stereotypical depiction of people from China’s Shandong Province as being hot-tempered.
“If President Ma Ying-jeou wants to find somebody to blame, just pick me,” he said, adding that it was in the interests of cross-strait peace that retired generals weren’t spending their days resting at home, but spending their own money to travel to China.
Hsia said the government’s treatment of retired officers was being watched by those still in service.
As for Ma’s demands that retired officers should ensure that their visits to China are conducted in a transparent manner, and that they should watch their words and actions, Hsia said the government does not have an agency retirees could report to even if they wanted to.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VINCENT Y. CHAO AND CNA
MISINFORMATION: The generated content tends to adopt China’s official stance, such as ‘Taiwan is currently governed by the Chinese central government,’ the NSB said Five China-developed artificial intelligence (AI) language models exhibit cybersecurity risks and content biases, an inspection conducted by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The five AI tools are: DeepSeek, Doubao (豆包), Yiyan (文心一言), Tongyi (通義千問) and Yuanbao (騰訊元寶), the bureau said, advising people to remain vigilant to protect personal data privacy and corporate business secrets. The NSB said it, in accordance with the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), has reviewed international cybersecurity reports and intelligence, and coordinated with the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau and the National Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Bureau to conduct an inspection of China-made AI language
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
‘TROUBLEMAKER’: Most countries believe that it is China — rather than Taiwan — that is undermining regional peace and stability with its coercive tactics, the president said China should restrain itself and refrain from being a troublemaker that sabotages peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks after China Coast Guard vessels sailed into disputed waters off the Senkaku Islands — known as the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) in Taiwan — following a remark Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made regarding Taiwan. Takaichi during a parliamentary session on Nov. 7 said that a “Taiwan contingency” involving a Chinese naval blockade could qualify as a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, and trigger Tokyo’s deployment of its military for defense. Asked about the escalating tensions
DISPUTE: A Chinese official prompted a formal protest from Tokyo by saying that ‘the dirty head that sticks itself out must be cut off,’ after Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks Four armed China Coast Guard vessels yesterday morning sailed through disputed waters controlled by Japan, amid a diplomatic spat following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan. The four ships sailed around the Senkaku Islands — known as the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) to Taiwan, and which Taiwan and China also claim — on Saturday before entering Japanese waters yesterday and left, the Japan Coast Guard said. The China Coast Guard said in a statement that it carried out a “rights enforcement patrol” through the waters and that it was a lawful operation. As of the end of last month,
RSS