The top hierarchy at the Ministry of National Defense is undergoing a big shake-up, with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said to be closely involved in the changes and promotions at the highest levels of the nation’s armed forces.
Local media reports said that Minister of National Defense Yen Ming (嚴明) has already tendered his resignation to the president, with his post likely to be filled by Chief of General Staff Admiral Kao Kuang-chi (高廣圻).
Kao had previously served as deputy minister of defense, and his post is expected to be filled by Army Commander General Yen Teh-fa (嚴德發).
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Deputy Minister of National Defense General Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) is expected to take over the post of army commander.
According to the Chinese-
language United Evening News and online news agency Storm Media, while Yen Ming has tendered his resignation, the president has urged him to stay on for the time being. However, if he sticks to his decision to leave, top hierarchy changes at the ministry could be imminent — as early as within the next few weeks.
Military sources said that Ma had asked Yen Ming to remain in his post at least until the end of March, when Kao is scheduled to retire from active service in the navy and would then be ready to take over as head of the defense ministry.
Rumors of Yen Ming’s possible resignation were rife among senior military officials over the past two weeks. His resignation and subsequent personnel appointments are widely perceived to be calculated moves by Ma to retain control over the armed forces by installing men from his personal sphere of influence into senior posts.
Kao is the younger brother of Kao Lang (高朗), who was a top aide to Ma and had served as Presidential Office deputy secretary-general.
Other likely forthcoming appointments to senior ministry positions were reportedly men who had gained the president’s personal trust and were selected by Ma, in a bid by the highly unpopular, lame-duck president to continue influencing policies and decisionmaking in the military.
The government issued a public statement on Dec. 30 denying that Yen Ming had tendered his resignation.
The ministry also released a statement yesterday saying that the latest reports about Yen Ming’s position were speculation and had no factual basis.
However, political pundits said the government’s denial is a stalling tactic to keep media from reporting on the matter and to prevent the public from being informed on behind-the-scenes political machinations by Ma.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS