`Territorial integration' or treason?

[dArKeR]

Yesterday saw 1,000 ex-generals meet in a Taipei's Ta-an Park to rail against President Chen Shui-bian (???) as being a "a sinner to harm territorial integration," as the ex-general and former premier Hau Pei-tsun (???) put it. Hau, who has always been contemptuous of democratic values and steadfastly supported the Mainlander ascendency, told Chen that he "must respect the generals' will."

Some people might think that this is a triumph of free speech -- and it certainly is worth pointing out that such a meeting would not have been allowed when Hau sat atop the greasy pole. But the meeting forces us to address again a question that seems to be at the heart of the conundrum that is Taiwanese liberal democracy: Where is the line between tolerance and irresponsibility?

These were 1,000 ex-generals, remember, not bank managers or schoolteachers, nothing so innocuous. A thousand men who until quite recently were supposed to lead the armed forces in providing security for the nation. Yet it is quite obvious from their wish for "territorial integration" that protecting Taiwan is the last thing on their minds.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2004/06/14/2003175034


Aging generals rally against the president

AP , TAIPEI

President Chen Shui-bian (???) should abandon attempts to pursue formal independence from China, a former military chief told hundreds of veterans at a protest against the president's policies yesterday.

More than 1,000 retired generals rallied at a park in Taipei to mark the 80th anniversary of the elite Whampoa Military Academy (????).

"The president must respect the generals' will," said Hau Pei-tsun (???), a former premier and minister of national defense who was among thousands of Whampoa-trained soldiers who fled to Taiwan in 1949

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2004/06/14/2003174990