After President Chen Shui-bian (
Both former president Lee Teng-hui (
The president is the commander-in-chief of the military, and members are all required to swear loyalty to him. But the military and the president continue to be suspicious of each other and seek opportunities to test each other.
When former minister of national defense Tang Yao-ming (
Many senior generals who were given their high office by Lee eventually turned against him, including the head of the presidential bodyguard. This set a bad precedent. Some of these generals believed they had a citizen's right to express their political opinion, and since Taiwan is not a fully mature democratic society, a serving four-star officer is able to serve as vice-chairman of a political party.
The participation of military figures in politics still casts a shadow over Taiwan's political scene, and their opposition to Lee and their attitude to Chen have also been a shocking lesson. This shadow that nobody wants to name directly is also present in the US arms sale issue. The political opinions and affiliation of many generals in the military has led the US to be cautious about selling high-tech weapons to Taiwan. The current arms procurement issue has underlined the seriousness of this problem. So when a small number of opposition legislators with close ties to the military come out publicly against arms procurement, the political message they are broadcasting is one that is very detrimental to the military. But looking at the issue calmly, Taiwan already has a solid foundation in the military's nationalization, and the "soft coup" is really just political rhetoric and not really about a coup at all.
The problem lies with a number of senior officers, whose careers were made largely during the period of the one-party state, and whose loyalty to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is considerably greater than to democracy. In contrast, the new generation of officers emphasize professionalism and are far more interested in the reform of the national defense structure.
The three branches of the armed services have different cultures and traditions. They have different characteristics and a degree of chauvinism is unavoidable. But in time of war, the mission and training of the three branches must be closely knit. A practical problem is that very few civil administrators are familiar with national defense issues and there is a lack of common experience and cooperation between military personnel and civilians, although in recent years there have been major improvements.
The military is an independent organization, and so even though the president is the commander-in-chief, he does not necessarily understand military or defense issues or have any professional military advisers. As a result, meetings between the government and the military chaired by the president may not result in meaningful discussion. The commander-in-chief might have power, but he lacks authority, which causes Chen to feels anxious over his command of the armed forces.
Leveling an accusation of a "soft coup" is an expression of this anxiety. Retired generals in the US military often come out and criticize the government, but since they are retired, their status is that of ordinary citizens and they have no influence in the military. Taiwan is not yet so advanced, and the military has not been completely nationalized. But despite this, the level of Taiwan's democratic progress and the standard of its military education are such that the chances of an actual coup d'etat being staged are virtually zero.
Antonio Chiang is a former deputy secretary general of the National Security Council.
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