Retired soldiers yesterday marked Armed Forces Day with nationwide protests against the government’s pension reform, as they commemorated soldiers who sacrificed their lives.
In Taipei, protesters congregated in the Taipei Main Station atrium.
Led by retired army general Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷), they came from veterans associations of different military branches and were joined by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), as well as officers from the KMT’s special Huang Fu-hsing branch, whose members are military veterans or their family members.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The protesters began by singing the Republic of China (ROC) national anthem and some pricked their finger with a needle to dab blood on an ROC flag as a gesture of determination in their fight against pension reform.
“[President] Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is trying to dismantle the ROC by methodically cutting off links to Chinese history,” Hung said. “She uses education to teach young people deceitful concepts and permits her government officials to insult pensioners who have retired from the civil service, military, police, fire department, or from education.”
“Over 200,000 protesters took to the streets on Sept. 3 last year, but the government did not respond to our demands throughout the year,” she said. “The DPP government kept on using the pension reform issue to villify pensioners and also wielded their majority in the Legislature to push through the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program budget of hundreds of millions of dollars. Therefore I urge people to come out to fight against this unfair and unjust government.”
Wu said no political party should destroy a pension system already in place, adding: “It also must not be done retroactively, because that violates the trust and the promises made by the government.”
Soldiers had given their youth and service years to the country, and time could not be turned back, Wu said, adding that the government must talk with the veterans’ groups to negotiate about pension reform and should not make decisions unilaterally.
Members of veterans’ groups held similar protests elsewhere yesterday.
In Hualien County, protesters gathered for a rally at the plaza in front of Hualien City Railway Station.
Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) and his wife, KMT Legislator Hsu Chen-wei (徐榛蔚), joined an estimated 300 retired civil servants, teachers, police and veterans for an anti-pension reform rally.
Fu raised eyebrows when he challenged Tsai: “Do not be evasive. If you have the guts, then go declare Taiwan independence.”
Fu’s remark sparked negative reactions from many netizens.
One wrote: “If you have the guts, then you should declare Hualien County independence.”
Another wrote: “Fu, if you have guts, go declare that you want unification with China” and asked: “How does Taiwan independence have anything to do with the greedy civil servants, veterans and teachers who would not give up their generous pensions?”
Additional reporting by Wang Chin-yi
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
RSS