Taiwan’s sovereignty and national security are in danger of being undermined from within by a proposed amendment from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Weng Hsiao-lin (翁曉玲) that would allow military and key government officials to salute China’s national flag, sing the Chinese national anthem and engage in other actions that recognize Beijing government’s political authority, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said.
Weng’s proposal amounts to opening the door for Taiwan’s retired military generals to take up Chinese propaganda warfare and ‘united front” (統戰) efforts by Beijing to subvert Taiwanese sovereignty, DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said.
“We see these actions as treason ... to sell out Taiwan to China,” Shen said, adding that Weng’s proposal is the opposite of efforts by DPP lawmakers to safeguard national security against infiltration and subversion by China.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
DPP Legislator Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said that Weng “is dismantling the protective walls safeguarding Taiwan national security, by proposing to remove the laws protecting our national sovereignty.”
Weng in her heart wants to sing the Chinese national anthem and identifies China as her motherland, Hung said, asking whether other KMT officials support Weng’s proposal or view it as representative of the KMT’s party platform.
New Power Party Chairwoman Claire Wang (王婉諭) separately accused Weng of “working in Taiwan’s legislature as a foot soldier for China.”
She added that Weng’s proposal to permit retired generals to show loyalty to Chinese government “is a grave insult to all Taiwanese taxpayers who pay a portion of their hard-earned income toward the generous pensions of these military officials.”
“I want to know if KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) supports Weng’s proposal, which severely endangers Taiwan national sovereignty, and if the whole party agrees with it,” Wang said.
“Are KMT members not aware that China’s political doctrine calls for a military invasion of Taiwan?” she said.
Weng referred to her proposal as a “individual human rights” and “freedom of expression” issue. Earlier this week, she collected sufficient signatures from fellow KMT legislators to propose removing Article 9-3 of the amended Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).
The article imposed a ban on active-duty military personnel and retired military personnel of major general or higher rank from engaging in acts such as saluting China’s national flag or its emblems, singing Chinese anthems or any other behaviors that recognize China’s political authority.
The same restrictions apply to senior civilian officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Mainland Affairs Council, as well as senior officers in national security agencies.
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