President Chen Shui-bian
This marks the second time in two days that Chen has backtracked on military reforms long advocated by both himself and the DPP.
On Sunday he committed the government to maintaining the highly controversial political warfare system, which many see as an obsolete relic of martial law repression.
In his book released late last year, Chen said that giving a civilian, rather than a retired serviceman, the defense portfolio was an important reform to strengthen public oversight of Taiwan's armed forces.
While he reiterated yesterday his determination to do this, he hinted that it would not come about in the reshuffle expected sometime around the end of this month.
He called the appointment of a civilian "an ideal we must insist on following," but added that "we need a grace period to carry it out, especially while we continually face China's military threat."
Chen made his comments when receiving members of the US-China Security Review Commission yesterday at the Presidential Office.
Chen said that he had to consider factors such as Taiwan's historical background and democratic experience when making a decision about whether to promote a civilian to lead the country's military.
"Our country is carrying out the first step, the unification of the military command and administration systems
But, Chen added, Taiwan's standoff with a hostile China, which is doing its utmost to expand its military power and targeting missiles across the Taiwan Strait, makes national security issues sensitive matters that must not be rushed.
Chen's remarks were widely interpreted as meaning that the Cabinet reshuffle and personal shift of top-ranking military officials will still leave a military figure with the defense ministry portfolio.
Members of the commission praised President Chen for successfully preserving military neutrality during the election campaigns last year.
They also congratulated him for the successful campaign against corruption and vote-buying during the campaign period.
"This not only consolidates Taiwan's democracy but also can be a role model for Eastern Asian countries," said Richard D'Amato, chairman of the commission.
In addition to his comments about the defense ministry, Chen also expressed his wish to resume talks between Taiwan and China, saying that both sides of the Taiwan Strait should seek a cross-strait relationship under a "political balance," "economic balance" and "military balance."
"The political balance means that both sides should put aside all controversy and preconditions to dialogue," Chen said.
"Economic balance means that both sides should normalize their trade relationship to create a win-win situation. For example, Taiwan has adopted a new policy of `active opening and effective management' to replace the previous `go slow, be patient.'"
A military balance means to stop the cross-strait arms race, the president said.
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