Making his final visit to the ROC Air Force and the Navy General Headquarters as supreme commander of the joint forces, President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday was praised by leaders of the two services for his role in contributing to their modernization during his 12-year presidency.
In addition to heaping praise on the outgoing president, the air force and the navy headquarters welcomed Lee with a chorus of farewell songs, while television footage of Lee reviewing military drills over his past 12 years in office was displayed on a giant screen for all to see.
Commander-in-chief of the ROC Air Force, General Chen Chao-ming (陳肇敏) lauded Lee as the leader who had made the greatest contribution to the modernization of the air force.
PHOTO: CHUANG CHUNG-LUNG, LIBERTY TIMES
Commander-in-chief of the navy, Admiral Li Chieh (李傑), said without Lee, the navy would not have been able to transform itself into the modern force that it now is.
Army leaders did not join the event yesterday, as Lee will not visit the army general headquarters, based in Taoyuan County, until Monday.
Both the air force and the navy have their headquarters in Taipei.
Officials with the Ministry of National Defense (MND), which organized the trips, said Lee chose to visit the army general headquarters after visiting those of the other two services mainly because he wanted the trip to coincide with the inauguration of the National Defense University, scheduled for the same day.
The university, designated as Taiwan's top military academy, will become formally operational on Monday.
It is located near the army general headquarters in Taoyuan County's Lungtan township.
Speaking to air force leaders during his stay at their headquarters, Lee said the air force has been successful in securing the first-line defense of the country.
"Over the past few years, China has launched numerous rounds of propaganda warfare and military intimidation against Taiwan. The situation in the Taiwan Strait was especially tense between last July and August," Lee said.
"China then sent sorties of fighter planes over the Taiwan Strait, attempting to destabilize the island. But owing to the combat strength of the air force, Taiwan was able to brush aside a crisis," he said.
Air force commander-in-chief Chen said because of strong support by President Lee, the air force was able to decommission aging fighter planes and bring a new generation of warplanes into service over the past decade.
In his next stop at the headquarters of the navy, Lee said he was happy to see the navy transformed into a modern force during his term in the office.
"In 1991, I reviewed for the first time a naval exercise in the capacity of the supreme commander of the joint forces. The fighting ships I saw at that time were all aging Yang-class ones," Lee said.
"But over the past few years, the navy has commissioned, in sequence, various types of new fighting ships. Our navy's build-up is something we can be proud of," he said.
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