A retired general’s alleged comments that the Republic of China (ROC) Armed Forces and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) shared the same goal of unification have sparked concern, prompting the Presidential Office yesterday to say it would not approve of such comments if they were proven to have been said.
Former ROC Air Force general Hsia Ying-chou (夏瀛洲) reportedly lauded the close ties between Taiwan and China during a forum in the Chinese city of Xian on Wednesday.
Quoting PLA Major General Luo Yuan (羅援), the Chinese-language newspaper the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) reported that Hsia said during the forum that the ROC Armed Forces and the PLA, while having different ideas, shared the same goal: promoting unification of all “Chinese people.”
Photo: Lu Chun-wei, Taipei Times
Hsia’s comments drew applause from the audience, the article quoted Luo as saying.
Presidential Office spokesman Fan Chiang Tai-chi (范姜泰基) yesterday said Hsia’s alleged comments still needed to be confirmed, but if he did make them, the Presidential Office would not approve, as such remarks go against national policies and would be damaging to the morale of the nation’s armed forces.
“The government’s stance on the subject is very clear. The ROC military should not be confused with the PLA and we do not allow any vagueness on our national defense efforts,” he said.
Hsia had made similar remarks last year during a visit to China, as he suggested during a gathering of retired generals from both sides of the Taiwan Strait that: “From now on, we should no longer separate the ROC Armed Forces and the PLA. We are all China’s army.”
His remarks drew criticism from politicians across party lines. Ma had also commented on the incident, urging retired generals to act and talk with extra caution during their visits to China and calling for the drafting of a “code of conduct” for retired generals.
Fan Chiang said prioritizing Taiwan’s interests and people’s rights remained the most important principles in handling cross-strait relations and that the government would not accept any comments that damaged its efforts in defending the nation’s sovereignty and dignity.
Opposition lawmakers condemned the alleged comments, saying they were “shameless” and tantamount to treason.
“Those comments from a retired general are simply unacceptable, in particular when everyone knows that China has always been the simulated enemy for our troops. This is treason,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) told a press conference.
“And this is not the first time Hsia has made inappropriate comments regarding Taiwan’s military,” he said.
If Hsia does not recognize Taiwan as his country, DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said, then he should renounce his right to receive a retirement pension because his comments were unfair to the taxpayers who fund these payments.
Chen, chief secretary of the DPP legislative caucus, said her caucus would propose amending the Act of Military Service for Officers and Noncommissioned Officers of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍軍官士官服役條例) to revoke the pension of retirees who jeopardize the nation’s sovereignty and image with their comments or behavior.
There is a similar regulation in Germany, Chen said.
Chen also questioned Ma’s flip-flopping on similar cases, saying that the president, who condemned Hsia in June last year, told the retired general in September during Ma’s re-election campaign that public reaction to his comment was “unfair”.
She urged Ma to clearly express his position on similar comments.
Taiwan Solidarity Union Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) urged the government to carry out a “loyalty assessment” on all retired generals and prohibit those who fail to pass the review from receiving pensions.
“Loyalty is the most important character [trait] for a soldier, active or retired,” he said.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
Thirty Taiwanese firms, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), yesterday launched a silicon photonics industry alliance, aiming to accelerate the medium’s development and address the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) devices like data centers. As the world is ushering in a new AI era with tremendous demand for computing power and algorithms, energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue, TSMC vice president of integrated interconnect and packaging business C.K. Hsu (徐國晉) told a media briefing in Taipei. To solve this issue, it is essential to introduce silicon photonics and copackaged optics (CPO)
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
RSS