Retired senior military officers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait are pressuring President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to allow greater cooperation with China, telling a forum earlier this week that the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) controversy provides the perfect context in which to do so.
The comments, which called for the creation of a cross-strait military cooperation mechanism, were made on the sidelines of a workshop organized by the Chinese Century Communicating Association (中華世紀交流協會) in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
Saying that military exchanges between retired Taiwanese and Chinese generals in recent years were “single-faceted” and “meaningless friendship-building activities,” admiral Fei Hung-po (費鴻波), a former deputy chief of general staff, added that current regulations prevented more constructive dialogue between the two sides from taking place.
According to the South China Morning Post, Fei said he had told Ma that his administration should push for military exchanges involving higher-level retired officers and use the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF)-Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) platform, or Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) meetings, to facilitate exchanges.
Fei said Ma should appoint retired generals to attend the next KMT-CCP talks.
Another former deputy chief of general staff, admiral Wang Li-shen (王立申), and former Mainland Affairs Council deputy minister Chao Chien-min (趙建民) were also present at the forum.
Alarm over the growing pace of exchanges between retired Taiwanese generals and their Chinese counterparts has grown in recent years, with fears that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has sought to formalize such exchanges to increase its leverage and to collect intelligence using informal links between retired Taiwanese officers and active-duty soldiers.
Defense analysts said those efforts may be focusing on a key faction within the KMT that represents veterans and their families.
Those exchanges have come in the form of visits by retired Taiwanese generals to ancestral homes, golf tournaments and academic conferences.
Since late last year, China has increased pressure on the Ma administration to sign a peace accord and launch a military confidence-building mechanism.
Turning to sovereignty disputes, Fei said that Taipei and Beijing had yet to issue a joint declaration on the Diaoyutais — which are also claimed by Japan, which refers to them as the Senkakus — adding that this could be addressed once a cross-strait military working team is authorized by the SEF and ARATS.
Tensions over the dispute increased last year after Tokyo’s announcement in September that it had purchased three of the islets comprising the Diaoyutais from a private citizen, sparking huge and at times violent protests across China. In September and earlier this month, Taiwanese coast guard vessels engaged in water-cannon exchanges with Japanese coast guard ships while accompanying Taiwanese fishing boats seeking to enter waters surrounding the islets.
Although Beijing has often called for cross-strait cooperation in dealing with the dispute, Taipei has denied any intention to do so, and maintains that the islands are part of the Republic of China’s inherent territory. China claims both the islets and Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China.
Speaking on the sidelines of the forum, retired PLA major general Xu Guangyu (徐光宇), now a researcher at the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, said the tensions over the Diaoyutais provided “a good opportunity to start cross-strait military talks and to seek consensus on how to jointly address disputes in the East and South China seas.
“Cross-strait military talks could be started ahead of other political issues,” Xu said. “For example, we can declare a ceasefire in disputed waters in the East and South China seas, and announce a joint cross-strait stance on our goal to defend our sovereignty in those areas to the world.”
Former minister of national defense Wu Shih-wen (伍世文), who also attended the event, said that Taiwan had always upheld its territorial claims in the East and South China seas. However, he said that the current political climate meant it was not the right time for Taipei and Beijing to cooperate on those issues, views that were echoed by Chao.
ANTI-SHIP CONFIGURATION: The Tuo Chiang-class vessels are to be built for NT$9.7 billion by Lung Teh, a shipyard that previously built four similar corvettes for the navy The Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday awarded Lung Teh Shipbuilding (龍德造船) a NT$9.7 billion Co (US$317.57 million) contract to build five Tuo Chiang-class corvettes with anti-ship capabilities, a defense official familiar with the matter said yesterday. The corvettes would carry vertical launchers for four Hsiung Feng II (HF-2) missiles, as well as eight Hsiung Feng III (HF-3) anti-ship missiles, in contrast to ships configured for anti-air warfare, which carry eight HF-2 and four HF-3 missiles, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The anti-ship corvettes would be armed for improved standoff range against surface combatants and carry the latest
PARTIAL SUPPORT: Morris Chang said he agrees with the US’ goal to slow advances of China’s chip sector, but US policies that might boost chip prices perplex him Washington’s efforts to on-shore semiconductor production might lead to surges in chip prices and supply bottlenecks, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) said yesterday. The 91-year-old industry veteran said he supports parts of Washington’s effort to slow China’s progress on advanced chip manufacturing. China is still six years behind Taiwan in making advanced chips, despite years-long efforts to catch up, Chang told a Commonwealth Magazine forum that he coheadlined with Tufts University assistant professor Chris Miller, an expert on the US-China rivalry’s effects on chip manufacturing. However, Chang said that other parts of the effort, particularly Washington’s on-shoring
‘COINCIDENCE’: The former president should keep in mind local and global response to his actions and abide by the law to safeguard national interests, the MAC said The Presidential Office yesterday confirmed that it has received an application from former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to visit China next week and would be discussing his security detail. “As the travel restrictions on former president Ma have expired, we respect his plan to pay respect to his ancestors in China,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said. “We will review his travel plan and consult concerned agencies to assist him in arranging his security detail.” “We also hope that Ma, as a former commander in chief of Taiwan, acts in a manner that aligns with national interests and does not hurt
‘WRONG DECISION’: Honduras should carefully consider the situation, and not fall into China’s trap and jeopardize the bilateral friendship, the foreign ministry said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that it had expressed “grave concern” to the government of Honduras after Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday wrote on Twitter that it would pursue official diplomatic relations with China. In addition to issuing a statement, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui (俞大㵢) summoned Honduran Ambassador to Taiwan Harold Burgos to the ministry in Taipei early yesterday to voice the government’s concerns. The meeting lasted about 20 minutes and Burgos did not make any public comments upon arriving at the ministry. Burgos said shortly after noon that he had not yet heard from his country’s