The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the appointment of Aviation Police Bureau Commissioner Chang Si-liang (
Outgoing National Police Administration (NPA) Director-General Wang Chin-wang (
Chang's appointment to the top post for police officers was the front-page story for major Chinese-language newspapers on Saturday.
PHOTO: TONY YAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Chang's promotion was high-lighted because he would be the first APB commissioner to take over the top NPA slot.
Chang's advancement is equal to NPA's Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) Commissioner Hou You-yi's (
According to the police-promotion system, NPA director-generals have usually been promoted from the job of CIB commissioner, Central Police University president, commissioner of Taipei City Police Department or Kaohsiung City Police Department. All previous NPA director-generals had one thing in common -- they were all criminal investigation experts.
When approached by reporters last Saturday, Chang tried to keep a low profile and said that he has not received any notice of a promotion from his supervisor.
"I actually learned of my `promotion' from the newspapers as well," Chang said. "To lead the 70,000 police officers in this country is definitely not an easy job, but I shall do my best if my superior officers really want me to do it. However, since the Ministry of the Interior has not announced the new NPA director-general, it is not proper for me to comment at this moment."
Like Hou, Chang studied in the criminal investigation department at Central Police University, but he graduated in 1965, 15 years earlier than Hou.
The 62-year-old Chang was born in Hsinchu but grew up in Taipei. After he finished college, he started his police career as a detective in the CIB.
Prior to his taking the APB job in 1999, he served as head of the Chungcheng Second and Taitung precincts of the Taipei City Police Department, as Hualien Police Department commissioner, APB deputy commissioner, Taipei City Police Department deputy commissioner and Third Peace Preservation Police chief.
Chang served as deputy commissioner of Taipei's Police Department under Wang. Hou was the chief officer of the city police's Criminal Investigation Division at that time.
Chang has earned public credit for his criminal investigation and public-relations expertise since his term as APB deputy commissioner.
Between 1993 and 1994, 12 Chinese jetliners were hijacked to this country. Chang was in charge of handling the hijacking cases. He was able to get the hijackers to surrender within a short time after their arrival, thereby assuring the safety of cabin crew and passengers alike and helped them return to China.
He also has a good relationship with the press.
During the 12 hijackings, he was spotlighted by the press because he provided key and immediate information for reporters.
Chang is regarded as an authority on anti-terrorism. After the Sept. 11 attacks on the US, Chang established an anti-terrorism mechanism for all the airports in this country.
With an easy-going personality, Chang enjoys making friends and this has helped him develop good relations and links to politicians and the business community. However, some critics consider him a sycophant.
Among Chang's close friends, the Evergreen Group (長榮集團) Chairman Chang Yung-fa (張榮發) and former NPA director-general Chuang Heng-dai (莊亨岱) are seen as key players behind his latest promotion.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS