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.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
‘SALAMI-SLICING’: Beijing’s ‘gray zone’ tactics around the Pratas Islands have been slowly intensifying, with the PLA testing Taiwan’s responses and limits, an expert said The Ministry of National Defense yesterday condemned an intrusion by a Chinese drone into the airspace of the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) as a serious disruption of regional peace. The ministry said it detected the Chinese surveillance and reconnaissance drone entering the southwestern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone early yesterday, and it approached the Pratas Islands at 5:41am. The ministry said it immediately notified the garrison stationed in the area to enhance aerial surveillance and alert levels, and the drone was detected in the islands’ territorial airspace at 5:44am, maintaining an altitude outside the effective range of air-defense weaponry. Following
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