Chief of the General Staff General Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明) is scheduled to visit the US next week, marking his first visit to the US in the capacity of the leader of the Taiwan military, according to defense sources.
General Tang is very likely to meet with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfield during his trip to the US, according to local reports yesterday. It was not known who else General Tang is likely to meet during the trip.
It will be Tang's first trip to the US in his capacity as chief of the general staff. It will also likely be Tang's last foreign trip in that capacity since he is scheduled to replace Wu Shih-wen (
Tang last visited the US several years ago while serving as army commander-in-chief. Tang learned a lot from the US Army during the trip and he put into practice some of the lessons he learned after returning to Taiwan.
The Ministry of National Defense said it has no knowledge about Tang's planned visit.
Tang's trip to the US is reminiscent of a similar visit to the US by Tang's predecessor Tang Fei (唐飛) in 1998, as Tang Fei was about to leave his post of chief of the general staff to become defense minister.
A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said General Tang is very likely to discuss a series of cooperative projects between the two sides' militaries over the past few years.
"General Tang intends to see whether the cooperation projects between the militaries of the two sides have been carried out as he had hoped. He wants to see whether the subordinates he had sent for talks with the US military on these cooperation projects had followed his idea in the talks with the US military," the official said.
Military cooperation between Taiwan and the US has intensified in recent years, especially since the Bush administration took office, the official said. The US military now focuses its efforts on helping the Taiwan military develop joint-operation capabilities, he said.
General Tang is also likely to ask for advice from the US military about how to effectively push ahead with reforms the Taiwan military is currently undergoing, the official said.
Tang's priority jobs after becoming defense minister are to continue the military reform mandated by two new defense-related laws: the Defense Law and the Organizational Law of the Ministry of National Defense.
These jobs will be a big challenge for Tang since he is to ask for general support from members of the Legislative Yuan's defense committee for the passage of a number of minor supporting laws.
The defense committee did not pass any of the supporting laws, which is said by some lawmakers to have been caused by lack of cooperation from the military executive system represented by the chief of general staff.
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