Amid media speculation that they were to be appointed vice ministers of defense, a Control Yuan member and the commander-in-chief of the air force yesterday told journalists that they had indeed been named to take the posts.
The appointments will not be officially announced until Feb 1.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
Control Yuan member Kang Ning-hsiang (
The second vice minister post, which will not formally exist until March when the Defense Organization Law (
The new law separates responsibility for arms purchases from other military affairs to avoid possible abuses.
Asked by journalists whether he was to take the first of the two posts, Kang said: "The president has been generous enough to promise to allow me to finish the cases I am investigating in the Control Yuan before I take up my new job."
A number of important cases in the Control Yuan are under investigation by teams led by Kang, including the Lafayette frigate scandal.
The fact that Kang does not have a military background has prompted media speculation that his appointment heralds the ultimate realization of President Chen Shui-bian's (
It is speculated that, once Kang has completed a stint as a vice minister of defense, he will be a strong candidate for promotion as minister of defense.
Kang, who graduated from National Chung Hsing University with a bachelor's degree in public administration in 1961, is an experienced public servant.
He has been a Taipei City Council member for three years, a lawmaker for 19 years, a National Assembly member for three years and a Control Yuan member for nine years.
Kang's positions in the Legislative Yuan and Control Yuan gave him plenty of experience on military matters and brought him into close contact with military personnel.
Media speculation has suggested that he may also owe his appointment to the fact that he enjoys good relations with the US. He has made several trips to the US and developed relations with influential figures, including congressmen.
General Chen, whose term as commander-in-chief of the air force will end at the end of February, is a long-standing, experienced and highly qualified air force officer.
Chen is also widely known to have good relations with the US, a factor which some in the media have speculated made him a more likely choice for minister of defense than the eventual appointee, General Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明), because the US was thought to object to the latter's personal style and his leadership of the armed forces.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
A bipartisan group of US representatives have introduced a draft US-Taiwan Defense Innovation Partnership bill, aimed at accelerating defense technology collaboration between Taiwan and the US in response to ongoing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The bill was introduced by US representatives Zach Nunn and Jill Tokuda, with US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar and US Representative Ashley Hinson joining as original cosponsors, a news release issued by Tokuda’s office on Thursday said. The draft bill “directs the US Department of Defense to work directly with Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense through their respective
Tsunami waves were possible in three areas of Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East, the Russian Ministry for Emergency Services said yesterday after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the nearby Kuril Islands. “The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, after the latest seismic activity in the area. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in Hawaii said there was no tsunami warning after the quake. The Russian tsunami alert was later canceled. Overnight, the Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamchatka erupted for the first time in 600 years, Russia’s RIA
RSS