The NT$610.8 billion (US$18 billion) arms procurement plan has polarized public opinion to an extent reminiscent of the runup to the presidential election. An alarming development is the anti-procurement protest by more than 150 retired generals. This reveals the extent of the divisions in this country. It also shows that some consider politics more important than national security. If this situation continues, the international community may well question why they should support Taiwan.
Every sovereign nation requires a robust defense system that can deal with any immediate or potential threat from outside. This is true of any country, regardless of the system of government. Even pacifist groups, when faced with a threat from a global or regional power, would not expect their own country to dispense with their military capability and just sit still, waiting for the enemy to do what it will.
These military officials were cultivated by past governments, and they enjoy generous retirement pensions to this day. They should certainly see the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as Taiwan's biggest enemy.
During their tenure under the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) rule, they upheld the government's plan to regain China by force, and implemented a decade-long arms purchase plan of NT$450 billion to strengthen naval and air defense capabilities. In fact, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government's 15-year purchase plan of NT$610.8 billion was organized between 1995 and 1998 by some of these now-retired generals.
After these men retired, some moved to China, while others frequently travel between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Surprisingly, they now speak for their long-time enemy. They say that Taiwan cannot defeat China no matter how many weapons are bought, so it's better for us to save money and try to resolve cross-strait issues through political means. Such statements prove that they not only deceived the people in the past, but are also willing to give up the nation's sovereignty in order to unify with China.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Taiwan's annual military budget of 3 percent of GDP does not have a negative impact on its spending in areas such as education and social welfare. China's military spending has, meanwhile, seen double digit growth for years. President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has said that the number of Chinese missiles targeting Taiwan has now increased to 600. The US has predicted that the balance between Taiwan's and China's military power will tilt in Beijing's favor by 2006.
Against this backdrop, 150 generals now not only refuse to sign a petition demanding that China drop its threat to use force against Taiwan, but are also asking Taiwan to put down its defenses. With friends like these, who needs enemies?
Many civic groups have come out against the arms purchase, out of concern that the that the huge expense will be a burden to future generations. They have called on the government to provide more guarantees that this allocation of funds will not affect other expenditures. This is the correct way for the people to monitor a government's activities. But the fact that these generals should so neglect the nation's safety is a sign of creeping defeatism and neglect of martial virtues.
If even our generals are now pawns in China's unification game, and if these opposition forces have become defeatists who work against the core interests of their own country, then how can Taiwan effectively seek support from the international community? What duty would the US and Japan have to continue their involvement in Taiwan's defense?
These soldiers have lost their faith, and they stand at the head of a path that leads to treason. They should be forcefully reprimanded by the people.
US$18.278 billion is a simple dollar figure; one that’s illustrative of the first Trump administration’s defense commitment to Taiwan. But what does Donald Trump care for money? During President Trump’s first term, the US defense department approved gross sales of “defense articles and services” to Taiwan of over US$18 billion. In September, the US-Taiwan Business Council compared Trump’s figure to the other four presidential administrations since 1993: President Clinton approved a total of US$8.702 billion from 1993 through 2000. President George W. Bush approved US$15.614 billion in eight years. This total would have been significantly greater had Taiwan’s Kuomintang-controlled Legislative Yuan been cooperative. During
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in recent days was the focus of the media due to his role in arranging a Chinese “student” group to visit Taiwan. While his team defends the visit as friendly, civilized and apolitical, the general impression is that it was a political stunt orchestrated as part of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda, as its members were mainly young communists or university graduates who speak of a future of a unified country. While Ma lived in Taiwan almost his entire life — except during his early childhood in Hong Kong and student years in the US —
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers on Monday unilaterally passed a preliminary review of proposed amendments to the Public Officers Election and Recall Act (公職人員選罷法) in just one minute, while Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, government officials and the media were locked out. The hasty and discourteous move — the doors of the Internal Administration Committee chamber were locked and sealed with plastic wrap before the preliminary review meeting began — was a great setback for Taiwan’s democracy. Without any legislative discussion or public witnesses, KMT Legislator Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩), the committee’s convener, began the meeting at 9am and announced passage of the
In response to a failure to understand the “good intentions” behind the use of the term “motherland,” a professor from China’s Fudan University recklessly claimed that Taiwan used to be a colony, so all it needs is a “good beating.” Such logic is risible. The Central Plains people in China were once colonized by the Mongolians, the Manchus and other foreign peoples — does that mean they also deserve a “good beating?” According to the professor, having been ruled by the Cheng Dynasty — named after its founder, Ming-loyalist Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功, also known as Koxinga) — as the Kingdom of Tungning,
RSS