A freeze of Republic of China Military Academy funds is similar to the situation regarding National Taiwan University (NTU) president Kuan Chun-ming (管中閔) and should be ended unconditionally, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday.
The Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Thursday passed a motion to freeze NT$3.33 million (US$108,110) of the academy’s training funds. The motion was broached by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) on grounds that the academy’s song was antiquated and reminiscent of the party-state era.
The anthem contains the line: “There is an angry tide, the banners of the party are flying,” a reference to the KMT flag.
Photo: Chen Yun, Taipei Times
The Ministry of Education initially did not approve Kuan as NTU president over allegations of academic misconduct and a possible conflict of interest after he was elected in January last year. Three ministers of education resigned over the incident, with the last of those, Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮), on Dec. 24 approving Kuan to the post before stepping down the following day.
There was no problem with the anthem and an academy committee in 2017 voted unanimously to not change its lyrics, Hau said.
KMT caucus Secretary-General William Tseng (曾銘宗) said that Liu is manipulating the anthem issue for political benefit and criticized the DPP for backing the move.
The DPP should lift the freeze unconditionally, and apologize to the academy and the public, Tseng said.
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said the DPP has not changed its tendency to feed its own by whittling away at the rights of others.
People should vote the KMT back into government in 2020, Lai added.
KMT Legislator Tung Hui-chen (童惠珍) said the DPP’s actions shamed public servants, military personnel and educators, earning it a poor international reputation.
Tung said she had questions over whether “transitional justice” was more important than the economy.
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