Recently, when reviewing the budget for the domestic submarine program, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator-at-large Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷) partnered with KMT Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) to freeze the program’s budget, even threatening to cut the entire national defense budget in front of Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正).
Wu has undergone military training on the public dime and received a salary paid for by taxpayers. His conduct not only fails to give back to the nation, but has triggered doubts about his hidden agenda and motivation for blocking the national defense budget.
It is not uncommon for a retired general to switch to a legislative position. When former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was in office, former commander-in-chief of the navy Nelson Ku (顧崇廉) became a People First Party (PFP) legislator.
Even though the governing party and the opposition had differences over arms deal at the time, Ku, with his long-term experience from military service, still offered his invaluable insight and suggestions for arms deals, regardless of his political affiliation.
Despite the KMT and PFP’s multiple attempts to block arms deals, Ku, out of safety concerns for his men in the military, and deterrence of Chinese aggression, went against the grain to defy his party’s stance. Even though he had orders to toe the party line as a legislator-at-large, he still raised objections to the removal of the purchase of Lockheed P-3 Orion anti-submarine warfare aircraft from the budget.
Ku reiterated that there should be no politics involved when it came to national defense issues, and that he could not bear to turn his back on the nation’s military. A year later, the Lockheed P-3 Orion arms deal became one of three arms deal packages whose items were all approved, and the aircraft were put to service starting in 2013, allowing for the retirement of obsolete Grumman S-2 Tracker anti-submarine warfare aircraft.
This reduced the risks of safety concerns for pilots on duty and bolstered Taiwan’s anti-submarine capabilities. The purchase also strengthened the Strait as Taiwan’s natural barrier so it would be unusable by China as a means of sealing off Taiwan.
Ku’s sharing of his professional knowledge with other legislators, his decision to override his personal political affiliations, and his dedication to his job, the military and the nation have set an example for other retired generals who become lawmakers.
In sharp contrast with Wu, as a fellow retired general, Ku regarded national security and the welfare of the military as a top priority, offering his professional expertise to other legislative members and defied the party’s line to boost national defense. In terms of being both military personnel and a legislator, he has displayed admirable valor, integrity and justice.
By contrast, Wu not only vilified Ukraine’s bravery in defending itself, comparing it to the mindless patriotism of the boxer soldiers in the Boxer Rebellion, but also became a mouthpiece for China by threatening Taiwan with this distortion.
In terms of Ma’s alleged involvement in leaking national secrets, Wu not only refrained from rebuking her, but helped Ma to freeze the budget, abusing the power that the nation bestowed upon him.
Wu is more than an unfit legislator — he has no integrity or rectitude, brings shame upon the military, and should be subjected to the most severe condemnation.
Chen Kuan-lin is a research manager from Taipei.
Translated by Rita Wang
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