In speaking to the Legislative Yuan on March 22, Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu stated his opposition to Taiwan-born World Bank vice president Justin Yi-fu Lin’s return to the island to worship his ancestors. Kao stressed that he will insist on this position as long as he is the defense minister, and stated that he would resign if the grand justices have a different interpretation of the defector law and let Lin return without making him serve a prison term, according to the United Evening News.
Justin Lin, formerly known as Lin Cheng-yi, was originally from Ilan County, Taiwan. In 1972, his transfer from National Taiwan University, the island’s top university, to the Military Academy was much publicized and he was held up as a model soldier by Taiwan’s government. In 1979, while serving as a company commander on Taiwan’s offshore island of Kinmen (Quemoy), Lin defected to mainland China by swimming to the other side of the strait. He was charged with desertion and the prosecutor’s office of Taiwan’s Defense Ministry’s military court issued an order to arrest him. Lin subsequently received a Master of Economics from Beijing University and a PhD from the University of Chicago. He is currently serving as the vice president of the World Bank.
Lin’s wife, Chen Yun-ying, who was allowed to leave Taiwan to join her husband, is now a member of China’s National People’s Congress. In early March, she publicly expressed her willingness to join her husband if he is allowed to visit Taiwan. Yang Yi, spokesman of the Taiwan Affairs Office of China’s State Council, openly urged the Taiwan government to allow Lin and his wife to enter Taiwan as soon as possible.
The Taipei-based China Times reported that when Lin defected, Defense Minister Kao was then serving as a battalion commander. They had a family-to-family friendship. Kao pointed out that Lin is now wanted by the Defense Ministry’s military court. Once Lin returns to Taiwan, he should be treated in accordance with military law. Kao stressed that soldiers are responsible for defending the nation. Instead, Lin collaborated with the enemy and violated a soldier’s core value – loyalty to the nation. There are no gray areas in this instance, according to Kao.
The China Times reported that Lin’s defection in 1979 has already passed the 20 year statute of limitation. For a major crime, there can be an extension of five years, but even with that, Lin is still well past the deadline for prosecution. However in 2002, the military filed formal charges, accusing Lin of collaborating with the enemy in accordance with Taiwan’s Armed Forces Criminal Law, and issued an arrest warrant. In other words, there are differing interpretations over the legal grounds for prosecuting Lin. Under the defense minister’s interpretation, Lin is considered a “continuous criminal,” and in accordance with that interpretation, Lin’s continuous stay in China is a crime in progress and prosecution will “be started upon the end of that criminal act.”
According to the China Times, Legislator Wu Yu-sheng questioned why Beijing would ask Taipei to accept Lin when Beijing itself prosecuted one Chinese defector who had returned to the mainland in 1991 and put him in jail. Legislator Chen Cheng-hsiang, once a career military official, noted that desertion to the enemy brings shame on the military so he is strongly opposed to Lin’s return.
In a letter to the United Daily News, Professor Tao Sheng-ping of the Chinese Culture University (Taipei) wrote that it is an undeniable fact that China still deploys more than a thousand missiles aimed at Taiwan and has never renounced the use of force against the island. Even though the government is currently promoting reconciliation with China, Taiwan’s soldiers are the last wall of defense and in this case, they should not let down their guard and switch their position toward the enemy.
When examining the policy of the Defense Ministry, it is easy to understand that even with the passage of time; Lin’s actions hurt his country. If a defector can be pardoned and exonerated, it would bring a hugely negative impact on the value system of soldiers. Lin’s desire to return to his homeland should be weighed with these considerations, stressed Tao.
While at National Taiwan University Lin was active in the student movement on campus, according to the China Times. He even initiated a campaign against letting the Chinese Communists join the United Nations in 1971. It remains a puzzle why in just a few years; a patriotic student such as Lin could make such an about-face and set out instead to harm Taiwan. Before his return, Lin should at least reveal the true nature of his actions to the people of Taiwan, the China Times commented.
