[Buincchotourb]

A defector is a defector: Justin Lin doesn't deserve special treatment

Editorial
2012-03-31
11:16 (GMT+8)



Justin Lin swam the short distance from Kinmen to Xiamen in 1979. (File photo/CNS)

The debate over whether to allow Justin Yifu Lin to return to Taiwan for a visit 33 years after his defection to mainland China as an army officer has caused much controversy. At a recent press conference, a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office urged Taiwan from a humanitarian standpoint to allow Lin and his wife to return, since the two sides of the strait have entered a period of peaceful development.

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense, however, insists that Lin is a continuous offender and is unwilling to make an exception for Lin by allowing him to return. Lin Yifu was originally named Lin Cheng-yi before his defection to China. He was an outstanding young man who passed the entrance examination to study at National Taiwan University, the country's most prestigious school. He forwent that opportunity and voluntarily switched to study at the ROC Military Academy.

The army sent him to study for an MBA degree at National Chengchi University in Taipei. In 1979, when diplomatic ties between the ROC and the US were cut, Lin, then serving as a company commander, swam from the outlying island of Kinmen where he was stationed to Xiamen on the Chinese mainland, just a short distance away. Three years after his defection, he obtained a master's degree in political economics at Peking University before going to the US to obtain a doctorate degree in economics from the University of Chicago.

Subsequently, he founded an economic research center at Peking University and became its director. In 2008, he became chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank. His extraordinary achievements do not change the fact that he defected to China at Taiwan's most trying time. In 2002, Lin's father passed away in Taiwan, and the issue of permitting Lin to return to Taiwan and attend the funeral surfaced.

The Chen Shui-bian administration listened to the pleas of legislator Tsai Tung-jung, saying the government should allow Lin to return to Taiwan, since his defection had passed the period for prosecution. The Mainland Affairs Council agreed to allow Lin to return to Taiwan out of humanitarian concern. Tang Yao-ming, then minister of national defense, however, insisted that Lin was still regarded by the army as a defected officer and as such would face an investigation and military trial upon his return.

Subsequently, Kao Hua-chu, the current defense minister, filed a charge of defection against Lin and issued a warrant for his arrest. Lin did not return for his father's funeral. After half a century of separation between Taiwan and mainland China, both sides have their defectors. Li Xianbin, a Chinese air force officer who defected to Taiwan by flying a bomber to the island in 1965, returned to the mainland several years ago but was immediately sentenced to 15 years in jail.

He died in prison. If Lin is allowed to return to Taiwan, he wouls become a hero to the media, rather than a defecting officer, which would put the army in an awkward position. Despite his expertise and international status, Lin cannot enjoy privileged treatment before the law, different from the treatment for other defected officers. The government should not continue to prolong the problem with a passive stance, and should make clear defectors are not welcomed back with open arms.