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.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
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