Punish the betrayers
This year marks 100 years since the founding of the Whampoa Military Academy (黃埔軍校), forerunner of today’s Republic of China (ROC) Military Academy. To mark the occasion, grand commemorative ceremonies have been organized on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Chi Lin-lien (季麟連), a former chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Huang Fu-hsing (黃復興) branch, stirred up controversy when he went to China to take part in their commemorative activities.
To the knowledge of the Veterans Affairs Council, only a small number of retired generals were going to China, rather than a delegation, ROC Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Chen Chien-yi (陳建義) said. He warned those concerned not to fall for China’s cognitive warfare and “united front” strategy.
The rivalry between China and Taiwan about who the legitimate heir of the Whampoa Academy is, is meaningless, because the two are independent political entities. It is their own business how they celebrate the anniversary of their respective national military academies, and there is no need to compare them.
China using this opportunity to invite retired Taiwanese generals to take part in its celebrations is clearly intended to use those retirees as model figures for its “united front” strategy. It is disgraceful for veterans to insist on going when they know they are being used.
Imagine if retired Chinese generals were to come to Taiwan and take part in a military academy celebration or other political activities. Could they go back to China? If they went back, they would be severely punished or even shot.
How can Taiwan’s retired generals so openly go to China to participate in military celebrations while the two sides are still technically engaged in military hostilities? Is their behavior not tantamount to going over to the other side just for a pat on the head?
Military authorities and the Veterans Affairs Commission should tell retired generals not to take part in military or political activities in China.
If those retirees do not heed this advice, they should be punished in accordance with relevant laws, such as deducting their pensions or taking their pensions away altogether. This would ensure that retired generals who step out of line lose more than they gain.
Tien Fong-wen
New Taipei City
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