The Ministry of National Defense yesterday confirmed President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) appointment of Deputy Minister of National Defense Lee Hsi-ming (李喜明) as the nation’s new chief of the general staff, among a reshuffle of positions at the top of the military and the ministry.
Lee is to fill the position left vacant by Chief of the General Staff Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正), who assumed the post in December last year, but will reach the retirement age of 64 for the position by the end of this month.
Chiu turned down an invitation to extend his term, saying that the system of elevation of rank should be respected and that he would be retiring at the end of this month, sources who requested anonymity said.
Photo: CNA
Lee’s ministry post is to be filled by another admiral, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Pu Tze-chun (蒲澤春), while Deputy Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Chen Pao-yu (陳寶餘) is to take over from Pu and be promoted to general.
Deputy Minister of National Defense General Cheng Te-mei (鄭德美) is to transfer to the Presidential Office to act as Tsai’s strategic adviser, the ministry said in a statement, adding that Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology president Chang Guan-chung (張冠群) would fill Cheng’s position and would be promoted to general.
Chang’s promotion would be the first time an academic has taken a post as deputy minister of national defense, the sources said.
Photo: AFP
The reassignments are set to take effect on May 1.
Meanwhile, Minister of National Defense Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) yesterday told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the ministry would formally declare its intention to procure Lockheed Martin F-35 jets to US officials in July when Washington is expected to finalize its appointment of Taiwan affairs officials.
Asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) if the ministry would be seeking F-35s, Feng said that the ministry “has such a plan in response to the enemy’s military development.”
“Because the appointments of [US] officials have not yet been completed, [a formal proposal] would be made to Washington in July,” he said.
The military wants F-35s because their short takeoff and vertical landing capabilities, as well as their advanced stealth features, would allow the air force to retain combat capacity should its air bases be destroyed.
The attempt to acquire F-35s became the main topic of yesterday’s legislative session after the ministry announced that it would test the nation’s defensive capabilities with F-35s factored in during the computer simulation in this year’s Han Kuang exercises.
The simulation would be based on the cross-strait military balance in 2025, when Chinese People’s Liberation Army is expected to have three aircraft carriers and a fleet of Sukhoi Su-35 jets, Lieutenant General Chiang Chen-chung (姜振中) said.
‘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
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
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