While former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) drew fire from across party lines for his decision to attend a military parade in Beijing, Shi Hsin University professor Wang Hsiao-po (王曉波) yesterday voiced support for the trip.
“I do not think there is anything wrong with Lien’s decision [to attend the event] since he currently holds no government or party positions,” said Wang, who also served as the convener of the Ministry of Education’s controversial curriculum adjustment task force.
“Plus, I think he might intend to convince the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] to work with Taiwan to rewrite history textbooks,” he said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Wang praised Lien for his trip to China in 2005, ending the warring status between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the CCP, saying that he deserves merit for his contributions in cross-strait relations and the Chinese nation.
The contribution that Lien is expected to make during this trip is still unknown, Wang said, adding that he believes Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) might make a major announcement that would make Lien’s trip worthwhile.
Commenting on former premier Hau Pei-tsun’s (郝柏村) remarks that retired military officers should give up their pension if they decide to attend the military parade, Wang said that “whether to receive the pension is a legal issue, it’s not something that Hau could decide.”
He went on to say that Hau opposes the visit because his son, former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), is running for a legislative seat and therefore he is worried about political consequences.
Asked to comment on President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) statement yesterday that it’s inappropriate for Lien to attend the event, Wang said: “Ma is not in a position to say anything, whether to attend is Lien’s decision to make.”
Attendance by Taiwanese at China’s military parade to commemorate its victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan would only have an impact on the Taiwan independence movement, and would not have an impact on Taiwan itself, Wang said, adding that it would actually scare people off who have territorial and sovereignty ambitions for Taiwan.
Separately yesterday, in response to media queries for comments on the Lien matter, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said that public perception on Lien’s visit needed no further explanation from him, “Everyone knows.”
Lee said Lien, also a successful businessperson, often visited China and no one minded, however, attending a military parade was “something else altogether.”
On Hau Pei-tsun’s insistence that other retired generals refrain from attending the parade, Lee said Taiwanese youths serving in the nation’s military would not know what to think if retired generals attend the parade in China.
“These youths would definitely feel awkward when they see the people who are supposed to lead them [against a Chinese invasion] visit China and instead shake hands with the aggressors,” Lee said.
Additional reporting by Huang Pei-chun
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods