The High Prosecutors’ Office on Monday charged seven active-duty military personnel with spying for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Some had allegedly pledged loyalty to Beijing in video clips.
Under the Anticorruption Act (貪污治罪條例), they could be found guilty of “demanding, taking or promising to take bribes or other unlawful profits by the acts that violate the official duties,” and under the National Security Act (國家安全法), they could be found guilty of “initiating, funding, hosting, manipulating, directing or developing an organization.”
Many of the accused in this case are from the 601st Brigade of the Aviation Special Forces, Huadong Defense Command, Kinmen Defense Command, Ching Chuan Kang Air Base and the 104th Brigade in Chenggong Ling training camp.
As a result, the morale of the military has been damaged, and doubt has been cast on its reliability to defend the nation.
Military officers who received money from China should be punished severely. Given they allegedly took bribes from the CCP, it is only natural that the punishment should be severe. Those who pledged their loyalty to the CCP on camera could be sentenced to life in prison. No matter what sentence they receive, their value as military officers is gone.
Some law academics once criticized the Anti-Corruption Act as being too harsh and not proportional when applied to civil servants. However, due to the special relationship between the military and the country, and the moral standard and loyalty that should be borne by the officers, military personnel should not be treated as civil servants. This is the problem of our armed forces, and this is why the public is up in arms.
Article 58 of the Act of Military Service for Officers and Noncommissioned Officers of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍軍官士官服役條例) states: “Personnel serving as Officers or Non-commissioned Officers shall swear to be loyal to the Republic of China, obey the laws of the country, and keep the confidentiality of the official affairs for life.” Any officer who breaches this duty of loyalty can be charged under the Armed Forces Punishment Act (陸海空軍懲罰法), and this includes possible dismissal.
In the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法), Part Two, Chapter 1, Offenses Against the Allegiance to the Nation, any officer who allegedly conspires to commit an offense or surrenders to an enemy might not be convicted in the end.
However, the nature of military law and the criminal code should be considered. The punishment specified in this chapter should be employed in accordance with the defense of the country.
In this case, two officers allegedly collaborated with the CCP and filmed themselves saying “I surrender to the People’s Liberation Army.” As specified in the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces, Article 24.2: “A person who derelicts duty and surrenders to an enemy will be punished with imprisonment for not less than one year and not more than seven years.”
Article 24.1 indicates that their behavior could be considered an attempt to surrender to an enemy and therefore, they could “be sentenced to death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for not less than ten years.”
However, the law is not comprehensively clear, and all involved agencies should solve the problem and clarify the regulations.
If the military is not well disciplined, the provisioning of it with world-class equipment could be undertaken in vain. Today, talent in the military is discarded in favor of mediocrity, which has undermined the traditional values of the military and relations between soldier and country.
However, all military personnel should be cognizant that their mission is first and foremost to defend the country. Every soldier should understand their role and responsibility. They should be more loyal to the country than any civil servant. They should serve the public and act virtuously in private.
If a soldier loses the faith, trust and confidence of others, their military values are left in tatters. The Ministry of National Defense should immediately restore military virtue so that our armed forces can be an entity everyone is proud of. Legal loopholes should be amended as soon as possible.
The military trial system should be brought back. These matters are of significant concern for the nation and must be promoted earnestly.
Chao Hsuey-wen is an assistant professor and holds a doctorate in law from Fu Jen Catholic University.
Translated by Emma Liu
In their recent op-ed “Trump Should Rein In Taiwan” in Foreign Policy magazine, Christopher Chivvis and Stephen Wertheim argued that the US should pressure President William Lai (賴清德) to “tone it down” to de-escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait — as if Taiwan’s words are more of a threat to peace than Beijing’s actions. It is an old argument dressed up in new concern: that Washington must rein in Taipei to avoid war. However, this narrative gets it backward. Taiwan is not the problem; China is. Calls for a so-called “grand bargain” with Beijing — where the US pressures Taiwan into concessions
The term “assassin’s mace” originates from Chinese folklore, describing a concealed weapon used by a weaker hero to defeat a stronger adversary with an unexpected strike. In more general military parlance, the concept refers to an asymmetric capability that targets a critical vulnerability of an adversary. China has found its modern equivalent of the assassin’s mace with its high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) weapons, which are nuclear warheads detonated at a high altitude, emitting intense electromagnetic radiation capable of disabling and destroying electronics. An assassin’s mace weapon possesses two essential characteristics: strategic surprise and the ability to neutralize a core dependency.
Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) said in a politburo speech late last month that his party must protect the “bottom line” to prevent systemic threats. The tone of his address was grave, revealing deep anxieties about China’s current state of affairs. Essentially, what he worries most about is systemic threats to China’s normal development as a country. The US-China trade war has turned white hot: China’s export orders have plummeted, Chinese firms and enterprises are shutting up shop, and local debt risks are mounting daily, causing China’s economy to flag externally and hemorrhage internally. China’s
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) were born under the sign of Gemini. Geminis are known for their intelligence, creativity, adaptability and flexibility. It is unlikely, then, that the trade conflict between the US and China would escalate into a catastrophic collision. It is more probable that both sides would seek a way to de-escalate, paving the way for a Trump-Xi summit that allows the global economy some breathing room. Practically speaking, China and the US have vulnerabilities, and a prolonged trade war would be damaging for both. In the US, the electoral system means that public opinion
RSS