When Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was inaugurated as the new president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces nearly two months ago, there was a sense of instability in the military, especially among a number of die-hard anti-independence military leaders.
Now the tide seems to have changed in favor of Chen, who is gaining support from military leaders, including those who were initially strongly opposed to him.
Su Chin-chiang (蘇進強), a military analyst at Nanhua University, who has close contacts with military policy makers, said support for Chen among high-ranking military officials had risen in recent weeks, but that it had not spread to all levels of the military yet.
"Overall acceptance of Chen in the armed forces is not expected to happen for some time. But for the moment, top military leaders are responding more positively to Chen," Su said.
A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the rising support for Chen among the top brass could be put down to Chen taking the initiative with military leaders and demonstrating his concern for defense matters.
Chen started visiting military facilities on June 28 and participated in military activities, such as the just-concluded commissioning ceremony for the second combat wing of domestically-built IDFs in Tainan.
"An interaction of some sort has been achieved between Chen and military leaders at different levels through these activities. Chen did not meet opposition of any kind from any of the leaders he met during these visits. We can say a formal stability is in place in the armed forces," the defense official said.
"Some generals, who were initially reluctant to pledge loyalty to Chen because of his former pro-independence stance, have now changed their view of Chen. They may still maintain a distance in their contacts with Chen, but they no longer reject the idea of working for Chen," he said.
These generals include Army Commander-in-Chief General Chen Chen-hsiang (
"National security is no doubt President Chen's top priority concern for the moment. And defense affairs are of special interest to him. What he wants to achieve in the short term is to maintain the stability in the armed forces," military analyst Su said.
"Goals for Chen in the longer term are to put into practice the landmark defense law and the organizational law for the Ministry of National Defense, which were passed early this year. Chen does not seem to be interested in taking a dominant role in the matter," Su said.
"Chen would rather leave it to a third party, preferably an inter-departmental team, so as to avoid a clash of opinions and interests in the military administrative system as represented by the defense ministry and the military command system -- as represented by the chief of the general staff and his office -- which are to be integrated," he said.
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS