Although he surprisingly beat veteran military leader Ku Chung-lien (
He is, however, expected to be important to incumbent defense minister Tang Fei (
Wu's usefulness to Tang hinges mostly on the fact that he has been working as Tang's right-hand man for more than a year already. In addition, officials say, Wu is a hard-working man and disinterested in power struggles.
FILE PHOTO
According to the rotation rules accepted by the three armed services, the post of the chief of the general staff (CGS) should have been given to Wu two years ago, the defense officials said.
Wu, then navy commander-in-chief, was due to succeed Tang Fei as the CGS after the previous two CGS's, Lo Peng-Li (
But the position was offered instead to army General Tang Yao-ming (
Deprived of the once-in-a-lifetime chance, Wu apparently accepted the arrangement without any grudges and took the vice defense minister post, which is normally reserved for retiring military leaders.
Now, however, Wu stands the greatest chance to win back what he had lost -- to become not only defense minister, but someone who will be for the first time in Taiwan's history more powerful than the CGS.
The status change was mandated by restructuring plans that are to coming into effect over the next few years.
Over the past year, Wu assisted Tang in lobbying for the passage of the landmark Defense Law and Organization Law for Ministry of National Defense (MND) by the nation's legislature.
Despite these efforts Wu never tried to steal the limelight and faithfully served as Tang's aide.
This, observers explained, was why others held the impression that Wu was a man of few words and couldn't be eloquent when answering inquiries from lawmakers.
In Chinese society, Wu is just the kind of person a political leader would want as a right-hand man, analysts say.
With a mild man such as Wu serving as the defense minister, Tang would be able to keep the military under his virtual control even after he becomes the premier, they say.
That's also one of the main reasons why president-select Chen Shui-bian (
With unquestionable cooperation from Tang and Wu, Chen should face much less difficulty when pushing ahead on the military reforms required by law.
It is widely known in the military that Tang Fei was at odds with CGS Tang over the content of the two laws.
If CGS Tang became the defense minister, it would be much harder to promote military reform, analysts said.
But, maybe out of sheer politeness, Tang still recommended CGS Tang as his successor despite the fact that the move would not serve the best interest of the new government.
In addition, Wu's appointment would cause a reshuffle of Taiwan's high-ranking officers.
If Ku Chung-lien -- ex-navy commander-in-chief and now Taiwan's representative to Holland -- assumed the post of defense minister, the relationship between the minister and the premier might not have been as good as Tang would have expected, analysts said.
Ku, considered to be Chen's first choice for the position, had a better relationship with lawmakers and politicians outside the KMT.
But he is older than Tang, and analysts are of the opinion that with his dexterity in public relations he could have possibly outshone Tang.
‘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