Pro-independence supporters enraged by remarks reportedly made by a retired Taiwanese general that the Taiwanese and Chinese armies should no longer be separated led a small protest outside the Executive Yuan yesterday.
The protest said President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration “needed to shoulder responsibility” because the reported remarks were a result of closer cross-strait relations.
Lawmakers across party lines have almost unanimously condemned reports that retired air force General Hsia Ying-chou (夏瀛洲) told a gathering of retired military officers in China that no differences should be made between the Republic of China (ROC) Army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as both are “China’s army.”
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
In a joint statement, pro--independence groups, including the Northern Taiwan Society, said yesterday that as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Ma needed to stringently enforce what is said and done at unofficial exchanges.
“The comment shows that one retired officer appears to have seriously misunderstood who their enemy is. He is unfit to continue enjoying publicly funded pension benefits and his [former] military rank should be reassessed,” the statement said.
The scores of protesters held up symbols of the more than 1,000 missiles aimed at Taiwan, which they said clearly represented Beijing’s intentions toward Taiwan.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) also said that Taiwan for the past six decades has been engaged in continued hostilities with the Chinese Communist Party and “it made no sense that these generals, who ate Taiwanese rice growing up and took money from Taiwanese taxpayers, would go reconcile with a ‘Chinese army’ that had missiles pointed across the Strait.”
“It’s frightening to consider what their ulterior motives are,” a statement signed by TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) said.
However, there were also limited calls for support for the embattled former officers.
The unification-leaning New Party said it did not see where the former officers went wrong. Proposing unification with China and calling themselves a “Chinese army” all fulfilled tenants of the ROC Constitution “word for word,” it said.
“Their method of thinking ... fulfills the Republic of China Constitution’s article that ‘the ROC still controls all of China’s sovereignty.’ They’re holding on to this ideal; how is this wrong?” it said.
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