National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) resigned yesterday citing health reasons and is to be succeeded by Deputy Ministry of National Defense Lee Hsiang-chou (李翔宙), the National Security Council said in an announcement.
The NSC statement said Tsai has been plagued by eye problems and had tendered his resignation to NSC Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) last weekend.
Despite calls by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and King to stay on in the position, the statement said that Tsai quoted his doctor as saying he needed to be treated and get some rest.
Ma accepted Tsai’s resignation and appointed him to the position of presidential national policy adviser, alongside former defense minister Kao Hua-chu (高華柱).
Tsai and Kao’s appointments will last until the end of the year, the Presidential Office said.
Meanwhile, the NSB said that Lee is “more than qualified” for his new job as he has served as deputy head of the president’s security, head of the Military Police Command, Command of Army Command Headquarters and vice chief of the General Staff.
Lee was among the 37 military officers reprimanded by the ministry over a closely watched case in July last year surrounding the death of army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘).
Hung died three days prior to finishing his military service, due to heat exhaustion allegedly caused by intensive training administered with malignant intent.
At the time of the controversy, Lee offered an apology to the public and Hung’s family and pledged to bring all responsible parties to justice.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
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A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
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