Chang Hsien-yi’s (張憲義) defection to the US in 1988 resulted in a lack of significant weapons available to the national defense force as a deterrent, and betrayal of one’s nation should be seen for what it is, former president Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) national security team member Chang Jung-feng (張榮豐) said.
Former Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) nuclear division deputy director Chang Hsien-yi on Monday spoke to reporters on the telephone about the launch of his book, Nuclear bomb! Spy? CIA: Record of an Interview with Chang Hsien-yi, saying he was motivated by fears that his research into nuclear weapons would be used by “politically ambitious” people who would harm Taiwan.
Chang Hsien-yi said that his actions were in line with former president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) policy of “retaining nuclear capability, but not actively manufacturing” nuclear weapons and he could, at most, be accused of betraying then-minister of national defense Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村).
Chang Jung-feng was dismissive of Chang Hsien-yi’s comments, saying that Chang Hsien-yi, as a colonel, had betrayed his nation and as a result of his defection directly contributed to Taiwan’s lack of national defense options.
In regards to Chang Hsien-yi’s claims that his defection was a “win-win” scenario for Taiwan and the US, Chang Jung-feng said the excuse was flimsy at best, as such decisions were not Chang Hsien-yi’s responsibility.
Chang Jung-feng also dismissed claims made in the book that Taiwan’s goal of creating a “nuclear-free homeland” was in part due to Chang Hsien-yi’s defection.
The former security adviser also criticized those who wrote the foreword for Chang Hsien-yi’s book, which he said were primarily supporters of Taiwanese independence.
“If these people think that Chang Hsien-yi has not betrayed his country, then they are not right in the head,” Chang Jung-feng said, adding that if these same people think that Chang Hsien-yi is a traitor, then they should not have written a foreword for him.
“It’s a matter of right and wrong,” Chang Jung-feng said.
DPP Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said that he had written the foreword for the book as it offered a chance for others to piece together parts of history, adding that from the vantage point of Taiwanese, Chang Hsien-yi “has indeed been a traitor.”
The insight of high-end technology researchers is the equivalent of a blueprint for national development, and too many are seeking to rationalize their actions for going to China, Lo said, adding that he has taken a more severe view on the matter due to his feelings that loyalty to the nation is the most basic of requirements.
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
RSS