Retired general Tsang You-hsia (臧幼俠) is to have his pension reduced by 75 percent for the next five years after being found guilty of contravening laws governing cross-strait relations by standing for the Chinese national anthem, the Ministry of National Defense said today.
Tsang on Aug. 20 attended an event in Hong Kong hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification, where the former head of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Huang Fu-Hsing chapter stood at attention for the Chinese national anthem and flag-raising.
The act is an offense under the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement this afternoon.
Photo: Taipei Times
In collaboration with the Mainland Affairs Council, Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Justice, the defense ministry said it found Tsang guilty of contravening Article 9-3 of the regulations.
The article states that high-ranking officials and former officials, such as generals and deputy ministers, cannot participate in any “ceremony or activity held by political party, military, administrative or political agencies (institutions) or organizations of the mainland area which in turn harm the national dignity.”
The law specifies harming national dignity as including saluting the flags, emblems or any other symbol of the “political authority” of China.
The punishment is retroactive as of Aug. 20, and Tsang must reimburse the government for any funds that have been paid out since his offense, in addition to relinquishing any honors he has received that are not related to his service time, the defense ministry said.
The penalty for former generals who contravene the act is relinquishing 50 to 100 percent of their pension, it said.
For more serious cases, offenders can also be stripped of their medals, have their pensions completely revoked and be punished in accordance with the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), it added.
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