The Executive Yuan has drafted an amendment to extend the period during which retired generals would be prohibited from traveling to China in an apparent response to two retired generals praising Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at a political event in China last year.
The Executive Yuan on Thursday said it has drafted an amendment to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to extend the period during which former generals, mayors, science officials and intelligence officers must obtain Ministry of the Interior approval before they can travel to China to 15 years from three years.
The proposed amendment aims to prevent retired government and military officials from attending events in China that could unduly assert Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan, the Executive Yuan said.
Photo: CNA
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) official People’s Daily on Jan. 29 reported that two retired Taiwanese generals, Huang Shing-chiang (黃幸強) and Chen Ting-chung (陳廷寵) in December last year attended the Cross-Strait Generals Forum in Xiamen in China’s Fujian Province.
The report was written by former Chinese-language People’s Liberation Army Daily president Huang Guozhu (黃國柱) and was titled: “Look over here, Taiwanese generals: Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Message to Compatriots in Taiwan.”
At the event, Taiwanese generals discussed “reform and liberalization to jointly pursue development” with their Chinese counterparts, sang the Chinese national anthem and joined others in issuing an “initiative for peaceful unification,” the report said.
The generals also praised the “five points” that Xi mentioned in an address on Jan. 2, it said.
The paper quoted them as saying that China’s transformation to a more liberal economy has brought “tremendous benefits” to Chinese and Taiwanese, and that they endorsed the so-called “1992 consensus” and Beijing’s “one China” principle.
Huang was quoted as saying that “the hope of cross-strait unification must not evaporate. This is our shared goal as Chinese and members of the Zhonghua minzu [Chinese ethnic group, 中華民族].”
“When the development of Chinese culture reaches its climax, our nation shall be at its most powerful. Turning one’s back on Chinese culture would be forcing one’s self into oblivion,” Chen said, according to the report.
When reached for comment, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) on Saturday said that soldiers have a duty to protect the nation, so if they ingratiate themselves with China, it would defeat the purpose of having a military.
Retired generals who ingratiate themselves with China do not deserve a pension, he added.
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted to making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the CCP that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
RSS