General fills army's deputy commander-in-chief post

The sixth corps commander, Lieutenant General Tai Po-te (戴伯特), filled one of the army's two deputy commanders-in-chief posts -- a position that was left vacant for a month -- army general headquarters said yesterday.

Lieutenant General Hu Cheng-pu (胡鎮埔), chief of the office of deputy chief of the general staff for operations (the J-3), replaced Tai as commander of the sixth corps, which guards northern Taiwan.

Hu was replaced by Penghu command chief Lieutenant General Lei Kuang-tan (雷光旦) as the head of the J-3, the most important position in the Ministry of National Defense (MND) regarding combat planning.

The reshuffle was made after former deputy army commander-in-chief Lieutenant General An Chia-yu (安家鈺) retired on July 1.

An is now one of the two vice managers of the MND's CTS television company.

After An retired, his place in the army had been left vacant for a month. Army general headquarters refuses to explain why.

This is not the first time the post has been left vacant. Several years ago, the army operated for some time without both deputy commanders-in-chief.

A defense official, who declined to be identified, said that newly appointed deputy army commander-in-chief Tai might be a general whose military career is nearing an end.

"To make Tai one of the two deputy commanders-in-chief of the army is to give him an honorary title to be remembered after retirement. Tai's pro-KMT colors used to be very strong," the official said.

"But Tai might still have some chances to survive in the military. You never know until the last moment."

Tai, who had been the sixth corps commander since the 2000 presidential election, was harshly criticized by the DPP and the PFP during the election campaign for violating political neutrality by using military resources to campaign for KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan (連戰).