President William Lai (賴清德) must apologize for stigmatizing military justice, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday, a day after Lai proposed amendments to reinstate military tribunals.
Lai on Thursday announced that the government, as part of broader efforts to combat “China’s infiltration and espionage efforts in the military,” planned to “reinstate the military trial system and bring military justices back to the front line.”
Such changes would require legislative approval. Taiwan abolished the military court system in 2013. While there are still military judges, courts martial are only allowed during times of war.
Photo: CNA
KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) and other lawmakers last year proposed amending Article 34 of the Military Trial Act (軍事審判法) to ensure military tribunals could be convened to protect national interests in wartime, Chu wrote on Facebook yesterday.
Article 34 says that “if part of the crime facts shall be prosecuted and tried by the Code of Criminal Procedure, all parts of the crime shall be prosecuted and tried by the Code of Criminal Procedure.”
The KMT proposal would have guaranteed that the lex specialis doctrine would be preserved should an outbreak of military conflict compel activation of the article, Chu wrote.
While the KMT effort sought to create a robust military judicial system, Lai’s proposal targets the armed forces, seeking persecution using the pretext of it being affected by Chinese espionage, he wrote.
Lai’s proposed changes are “tantamount to an accusation that the armed forces have been infiltrated by China,” he wrote. “It is a political maneuver to target internal enemies.”
“Lai is shamelessly evading his responsibility,” Chu added.
The Lai administration should answer to history and the public over the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) support for the abolishment of military tribunals, which weakened the armed forces and allowed communist infiltration, he said, adding that the DPP government should also apologize for its insult to the military’s good name.
The DPP should support the KMT’s call for increased personnel funding to boost morale and reduce service members’ vulnerability to Beijing’s bribery, he added.
Meanwhile, the KMT caucus is to propose a referendum on implementing military trials and martial law, people familiar with the matter said.
The KMT caucus plans to propose a referendum on the question: “Regarding President Lai declaring China as a ‘foreign hostile force’ and cross-strait affairs entering a quasi-war state, do you agree that Taiwan should follow Ukraine in implementing martial law and reinstating military trials?” the sources said.
Separately yesterday, Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that the act is not a substantive law, as it does not define crimes or specify punishments, but merely delineates jurisdictions and procedures.
The Lai administration’s plan to reinstitute military courts is an undefined solution in search of an unidentified problem, as it was announced without discussion, a tangible proposal or a timetable, Huang said.
“It is exceedingly regrettable that an irresponsible party and administrative team is governing Taiwan,” he said, adding that Lai was showing “incompetence while sloganeering and sowing division in society.”
“Taiwan’s most precious assets are its freedom, rule of law and human rights, which set it apart from authoritarian China,” he said.
The DPP should be scrutinized over whether its actions are in line with the founding principles of the nation, Huang added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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