It seems that not even KMT stalwarts believe the excuses that the party offers for its blocking of the special arms procurement bill, because an number of Taiwanese military officers have written a letter announcing that they're taking leave of the party over the issue.*
It's a little difficult to gauge how big this story is because the number of defecting party members is unspecified. The chairman of Taiwan's largest pro-communist party, Ma Ying-jeou, takes it seriously though, saying that:
the KMT sincerely hopes to communicate with those service members who wrote to the defense ministry in order to talk to them about their position on the stalled arms procurement bill.
Is it just me, or is there some kind of veiled threat hidden in that statement somewhere? As it turns out, the officers in question may have also perceived some kind of danger, because they didn't sign their names to the letter.
Ma said further:
"No military members, regardless of their political affiliation, should support an arms procurement bill if it is not drafted based on professional assessments and if it cannot genuinely meet Taiwan's defense needs."
OK, you're kidding me, right? Members of the military aren't capable of making their own "professional assessments" regarding Taiwan's defense needs? The Party knows better?
American readers should note that Ma also said that the KMT was opposed to the special arms bill because it is a "cash-for-friendship" purchase plan. In essence, he claims that George Bush's armament offer is nothing more than a great, big mafioso protection racket. Now, if I'm not mistaken, Taiwan was the one that requested these weapons, Mr. Bush was the only leader in the world good enough to offer those weapons, and now Ma and the pro-communists spurn the weapons - and slap Bush in the face to boot!
Good luck with your next weapons request, Taiwan. You're gonna need it.
UPDATE (Dec 30/05): Today's edition of The Taipei Times had an editorial that pointed out that this episode represents a violation of military neutrality in political matters. While the editorialists agree with the officers' opinion regarding the necessity of the arms sales, they nonetheless take the principled position that the officers should be punished for their foray into the political sphere.
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* I'm shocked - shocked! to find that the story appears on the front page of the anti-communist Taipei Times, and is buried on the second last page of the pro-communist The China Post.
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