Taiwan’s sovereignty and national security are in danger of being undermined from within by a proposed amendment from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Weng Hsiao-lin (翁曉玲) that would allow military and key government officials to salute China’s national flag, sing the Chinese national anthem and engage in other actions that recognize Beijing government’s political authority, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said.
Weng’s proposal amounts to opening the door for Taiwan’s retired military generals to take up Chinese propaganda warfare and ‘united front” (統戰) efforts by Beijing to subvert Taiwanese sovereignty, DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said.
“We see these actions as treason ... to sell out Taiwan to China,” Shen said, adding that Weng’s proposal is the opposite of efforts by DPP lawmakers to safeguard national security against infiltration and subversion by China.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
DPP Legislator Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said that Weng “is dismantling the protective walls safeguarding Taiwan national security, by proposing to remove the laws protecting our national sovereignty.”
Weng in her heart wants to sing the Chinese national anthem and identifies China as her motherland, Hung said, asking whether other KMT officials support Weng’s proposal or view it as representative of the KMT’s party platform.
New Power Party Chairwoman Claire Wang (王婉諭) separately accused Weng of “working in Taiwan’s legislature as a foot soldier for China.”
She added that Weng’s proposal to permit retired generals to show loyalty to Chinese government “is a grave insult to all Taiwanese taxpayers who pay a portion of their hard-earned income toward the generous pensions of these military officials.”
“I want to know if KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) supports Weng’s proposal, which severely endangers Taiwan national sovereignty, and if the whole party agrees with it,” Wang said.
“Are KMT members not aware that China’s political doctrine calls for a military invasion of Taiwan?” she said.
Weng referred to her proposal as a “individual human rights” and “freedom of expression” issue. Earlier this week, she collected sufficient signatures from fellow KMT legislators to propose removing Article 9-3 of the amended Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).
The article imposed a ban on active-duty military personnel and retired military personnel of major general or higher rank from engaging in acts such as saluting China’s national flag or its emblems, singing Chinese anthems or any other behaviors that recognize China’s political authority.
The same restrictions apply to senior civilian officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Mainland Affairs Council, as well as senior officers in national security agencies.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and