The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it would issue commemorative medals in honor of veterans who fought the communists during the Cold War era, adding that the timing of the honors has nothing to do with Saturday’s presidential and legislative elections.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is to host public ceremonies later this month to present the first issue of the “Safeguard Taiwan Commemorative Medallion” to the recipients, or their dependents, in the case of deceased soldiers, the ministry said.
Assistant head of the ministry’s personnel department Major General Hsu Yen-pu (徐衍璞) said that about 12,000 veterans would be eligible — those who were wounded, captured by Chinese troops, sacrificed their life or displayed valor during battles in Cold War years.
Photo: Lo Tien-pin, Taipei Times
In response to media queries on announcing the awarding of the new medals just four days before the elections, Hsu said: “There is no political consideration in this, and the armed forces abide by principle of administrative neutrality. It has nothing to do with the upcoming elections.”
However, opposition legislators and critics were not convinced, saying the move was to sway voters toward the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in many closely fought legislative races.
“We are very suspicious of the motives behind this move. There are only four days to the elections, but the government and the military chose this time to announce this major initiative,” Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said.
“This timing is an obvious attempt to influence the elections by granting favors to veterans and their families. The ruling party is trying to shore up its base among military personnel dependents and traditional pan-blue camp supporters by appealing to patriotism and flag waving,” said Tsai, who is a member of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
He said that the initiative should not be undertaken at such a sensitive time, as the decision should be left to the legislators who are elected in the upcoming polls.
Other critics said the move was Ma’s effort to consolidate support for the KMT, as this election campaign has seen pan-blue constituencies wracked by dissent and their votes splintered to support the People First Party, New Party, Republican Party and other upstart groups.
The ministry said that in addition to Taiwanese veterans, about 126 Americans and their dependants are also eligible, because US soldiers were killed or wounded in artillery battles at Kinmen, Matsu and other front-line islands, during what were known as the First and Second Taiwan Strait Crises between 1954 and 1958.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS