New Air Force Commanding General Yen Ming (嚴明) assumed his post yesterday after his predecessor was demoted a day earlier regarding the misuse of public resources for private purposes.
Yen accepted the official seal of his post from Chief of the General Staff Lin Chen-yi (林鎮夷) at a changeover ceremony held at the air force’s general headquarters in Taipei.
Yen succeeds General Lei Yu-chi (雷玉其), who has been demoted to the post of deputy chief of the General Staff in charge of Air Force affairs after media reports said two days earlier that military personnel had been enlisted to serve as ushers at his son’s wedding banquet, raising questions about a possible misuse of public resources.
The reports caught the attention of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who immediately instructed the Ministry of National Defense to respond to the issue quickly and efficiently.
In a rare move, the ministry demoted Lei on Thursday and named Yen, originally a deputy chief of the General Staff, to assume Lei’s position.
Speaking at the ceremony yesterday, Lin exhorted Yen to fulfill his mission of upgrading the air force’s combat prowess and building the service into a modern, professional combat force to defend the nation’s security.
A graduate of the Republic of China Air Force Academy, Yen has worked his way up through the ranks of the air force, having served as a wing chief, an academy president, a chief of staff and a deputy commanding general.
He was promoted to the rank of general in October 2008, making him the first military officer to be promoted to the rank of general since Ma assumed the presidency.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS