An amendment that would cancel the pensions of retired military generals found to be collaborating with China was yesterday proposed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Mei-hui (王美惠).
Wang cited comments made by retired air force general Hsia Ying-chou (夏瀛洲) during an interview with China’s Global Times newspaper as an example of how Beijing is attempting to use Taiwanese to change the narrative in Taiwan.
During the Global Times interview on Nov. 5, Hsia said: “Beijing has every right to send warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, as it is part of Chinese territory.”
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
Wang proposed amending Article 9-3 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), which states that retired military or government officials may not “participate in any ceremony or activity held by ... the Mainland Area, which in [turn harms] the national dignity.”
In her proposed amendment, the penalty for such activity would be loss of the retiree’s pension, or a fine of up to NT$10 million (US$359,247).
“Helping China spread propaganda could have an impact on national sovereignty, and could serve as a model for China to engage in similar united front tactics,” Wang said.
Retired generals’ pensions come from taxpayer money, so they should be canceled if the retiree is found causing potential harm to those paying the pension, she said.
The act was amended in 2019 to prevent retired military and government officials from participating in Chinese political activities, but the amendment did not address harmful speech, and therefore needs to be amended further, she said.
“China is a growing threat. We must show our resolve in defending ourselves; we must be united and persevere in the defense of our freedom, democracy and constitutional systems; we must persevere in protecting our sovereignty and independence,” she said.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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