When considering a potential decapitation strike — a rapid assault operation targeting government leaders in the initial stages of an invasion — by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the possible threat to Taiwan’s northern coastal regions dubbed “red beaches,” the current strength of the Military Police Command is insufficient.
To respond to the needs of Taipei’s central garrison mission, the Ministry of National Defense has approved the reorganization of the 66th Marine Brigade into a direct subordinate strategic reserve force under the General Staff Headquarters, with defense responsibilities to be shared jointly between the 66th Marine Brigade and the 202nd Military Police Command.
In reality, one reason for the shortage of troops in the military is the wasteful deployment of soldiers to guard the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) political symbols. Memorials for Sun Yat-sen (孫中山), and former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) all have designated honor guards.
These soldiers are all strong and powerful, yet they are assigned to guard the memorials of those already deceased — is this not a significant waste of valuable human resources?
The KMT should use its own funds to hire private security personnel to guard and maintain these memorials. How can both national funds and the nation’s soldiers be used to keep vigil on their behalf?
This issue begs the question, do other countries deploy military honor guards to protect the memorials of former dictators? Not even the memorials of Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東) or North Korean leader Kim Il-sung have honor guards, so why should the memorials of KMT dictators be guarded by our country’s military?
Why should we neglect to protect the living while guarding the memorials of deceased KMT leaders? Is that not the kind of budget that should be cut instead? In other countries, only military graves or memorials dedicated to soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their nation have honor guards — and even then, there are typically only one or two guards deployed. So why is it that we have so many soldiers guarding these memorials?
For President William Lai’s (賴清德) safety — and that of all subsequent presidents, regardless of party affiliation — all honor guards at the memorials of former dictators should be reassigned. The number of guards at the National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine can also be reduced by half.
The next proper course of action would be to assign all corresponding personnel to protect the Presidential Office and the presidential residence.
Teng Hon-yuan is a university professor.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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