The High Prosecutors’ Office in August arrested a lieutenant colonel surnamed Hsieh (謝) on suspicion of being recruited by Chinese operatives to defect to China in a Boeing CH-47 Chinook military helicopter.
Hsieh was reportedly to land on a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy warship when it approached the median line of the Taiwan Strait. After completing his defection, he was to receive US$15 million.
However, prosecutors arrested Hsieh before he could do so.
If he had succeeded, it would have been the first defection since then-major Lien Hsien-shun’s (林賢順) defection in 1989 when he fled in an F-5E jet from his base in Taitung.
As the Aviation and Special Forces Command only has eight CH-47s, they are considered high-value equipment, not to mention that they have extra significance because they are used to carry the national flag over the Presidential Office Building on Double Ten National Day.
The case also involved the leaking of the “0221” confidential project to China, a military strategy overseen by the president.
The events show that the Whampoa Military Academy and its history with the Republic of China (ROC) are being exploited by the Chinese Communist Party to buttress its idea that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are “one family.”
It has been inviting retired generals to lavish parties or golf events in China to develop organizations in Taiwan.
When the Democratic Progressive Party took office in 2016, it respected the military by not interfering in its ideology and historical perspectives. This has enabled retired generals to be easily bribed by China, resulting in treason and spying.
The commander in chief has three obligations:
First, establish a military history based on the Taiwanese perspective. By the time Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) retreated to Taiwan in 1949, many of those who attended the Whampoa Military Academy, which was based in Chengdu at the time, either died in battle or surrendered. Those who made it to Taiwan were shunned by the KMT.
The academy should regard former commander-in-chief of the ROC army Sun Li-jen (孫立人), who re-established the academy in Kaohsiung’s Fengshan District (鳳山), as the founder of a new entity and the new site as its inception.
Second, focus should be placed on the modern history of Taiwan, including Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties. People should pay attention to the highlights of modern history, such as the Battle of Guningtou, the 823 Artillery Bombardment, the 814 Kinmen Aerial Warfare, the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis and the Fourth Taiwan Strait Crisis last year.
Third, the commander in chief should preside over the anniversary of the academy.
With the anniversary marking the most direct connection between deep-blue factions and China, former presidents Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) regarded participation as an important symbol of their command over the military. This is an aspect of the presidency that even pro-China supporters cannot change.
With the academy to mark its centennial next year, the new president should use the opportunity to shape the discourse, put further emphasis on military education and clarify the history of the academy.
It is high time all ties were cut with China and for the Kaohsiung facility to be regarded as a new beginning for Taiwan’s military history.
Only then can Taiwanese counter China’s “united front” tactics and establish a military history of their own.
Chu-Ke Feng-yun is a military blogger.
Translated by Rita Wang
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