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Ex-minister denies
leaking military secrets in memoir
SENSITIVE SUBJECT: Michael Tsai, a former
minister of defense, defended revelations about a missile program made in his
book, saying that they had been publicized before
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Former minister of defense Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) yesterday denied leaking military
secrets about Taiwan’s development of medium-range missiles in his
autobiography, saying that the information had already been made public.
“I would cooperate with any investigation if the Ministry of National Defense
decides to probe the matter,” Tsai, who served as the first civilian minister of
defense during the former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration,
said on the sidelines of the launch of his memoir, titled God Bless Taiwan
(天佑台灣).
Prior to the book launch, local media on Saturday reported that Tsai wrote in
his book that Taiwan test-fired domestically produced medium-range missiles —
which have credible performance in terms of speed, control, precision and error
rates — in March 2008, raising concern from Washington. Following the report,
the ministry said that it would not rule out initiating an investigation into
the matter.
Tsai yesterday said that the development of the missiles has been reported by
Taiwanese and US media and was discussed in legislative sessions, adding that
the minsitry had also mentioned the development in its written and oral report
to the legislature.
Former chief of the general staff Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) and former minister of
defense Tang Fei (唐飛) revealed a lot more confidential military information in
their memoirs, added Tsai, who headed the ministry for just three months in 2008
as the last defense minister of the DPP administration.
Tsai said that the revelation was positive and helped people regain confidence
in the nation’s defense amid a growing military imbalance across the Taiwan
Strait.
“People expressed strong support for making the revelation and for the missile
project since the news was first reported as they understand that the ministry
is doing its best to safeguard the country and Taiwanese,” Tsai told a seminar
on cross-strait and regional security cooperation held after the book launch.
Tsai, who also once served as deputy representative to the US, underlined the
role Washington plays in Taiwan’s security and would play in the case of another
Taiwan Strait crisis.
The US played a pivotal role in three such crises in the past, including its
military engagement in China’s bombardment of Kinmen in 1958 and in 1996, as
well as the 319 shooting incident on the eve of Taiwan’s presidential election
in 2004, Tsai said.
The former minister of defense reiterated his call for scrapping the
all-voluntary recruitment of the military, saying that mandatory conscription
remained necessary due to the increasing military threat from China, an
insufficient defense budget and the nation’s low birthrate.
The ministry has elaborated the difficulties of implementing the system in the
legislature, Tsai said, adding that countries facing the same military threats
as Taiwan, such as South Korea and Singapore, have not implemented an
all-volunteer system.
“I don’t know why President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) insisted on implementing the
system when the time is not ripe,” he said.
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