China was behind Singapore’s decision to deny entry to Veterans Affairs Council (VAC) Director Lee Shying-jow (李翔宙), the council said yesterday.
Lee, who visited Thailand earlier this month, planned a stopover in Singapore to visit veterans of Taiwan’s armed forces residing in Singapore, but he was denied entry to the city-state despite a tacit agreement that the visit had been approved.
Lee’s status — he has served as deputy minister of national defense, an army commander, director-general of the National Security Bureau and as a senior presidential adviser — reportedly prompted concern.
Photo: CNA
VAC Deputy Director Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) yesterday attributed the incident to China’s interference during a question-and-answer session at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
“[Lee Shying-jow’s planned visit to Singapore was aborted] likely due to Chinese Communist Party interference,” Lee Wen-chung said. “Relations between Singapore and China are tense, so Singapore does not want to create more trouble.”
There has never been a visit by a VAC director to Singapore, Lee Wen-chung said, adding that most of the council’s foreign visits are to the US, where a majority of the overseas veterans’ clubs founded by the council are located.
Lee Shying-jow’s visit to Thailand was to pay his respects and present a commendation to the family of Sung Ching-yun (宋慶雲), a Taiwanese agricultural expert who helped farmers in northern Thailand phase out poppy cultivation and transition to other economically viable crops, Lee Wen-chung said.
In related news, Lee Wen-chung said eight retired military officials, including former army commander-in-chief Cheng Ting-chung (陳廷寵), are to visit China on Thursday next week to attend a “cultural event.”
While the nominal event organizer is a private calligraphy business, the “actual event organizer is usually the Taiwan Affairs Office and relevant agencies,” Lee Wen-chung said.
The council has contacted the retired officials and warned them against making any political comments or doing interviews, he said.
“There is no regulation that stops former military officials visiting China [once a three-year travel restriction expires]. The government could consider imposing a longer travel ban on retired military officials,” he said, adding that key personnel who have had access to highly sensitive information should be placed under a screening mechanism on a permanent basis.
National Security Bureau Third Division Director Lai Yun-cheng (賴蘊誠) said that several of the retired military officials have canceled the visit due to the negative public perception of the trip.
The attendance of retired lieutenant general Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷) and former generals Wang Wen-hsieh (王文燮) and Hsia Ying-chou (夏瀛洲) at an event in Beijing chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last month provoked a public outcry and raised concern over national security, with legislators proposing imposing stricter travel restrictions and disciplinary measures on retired military officials.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS