Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) yesterday said she suspected President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had favored individuals with close personal ties to him in the latest round of military promotions, citing Wang Hsuan-chou (汪旋周), chief aide-de-camp to the president, as one of four brigadier generals promoted to the rank of major general.
“The promotions, in particular Wang’s, appear to be Ma’s attempt to reward his confidants, but they will cost taxpayers a lot of money,” Yeh told a press conference.
The promotion of a total of 31 generals, the largest round of military promotions since Ma took office in 2008, was not in line with the Ministry of National Defense’s goal of streamlining military personnel, Yeh said.
Military promotions are announced by the president every six months.
Several promoted officers came from the Presidential Office or offices of ministers, including Yang Chi-jung (楊基榮), aide-de-camp of the Presidential Office, Lee Tsung-hsiao (李宗孝) from the office of the Chief of General Staff and Ku Cheng-hsing (顧正興) from the office of the minister of national defense. This suggests they were promoted more because of personal connections than military expertise, she said.
Some promotions did not meet legal requirements, the lawmaker said. Liu Shou-jen (劉守仁), commander of the air force’s Education, Training & Doctrine Command, was promoted from colonel to brigadier general in less than the required six years, and then promoted to major general, Yeh said.
While the Ministry of National Defense said that some individuals were promoted for outstanding and distinguished service, Yeh said, the ministry needed to offer further explanation.
Yeh said Ma has interfered with promotions of both civilian and military officials during his time in office and was destroying established systems.
Ma has promoted 259 generals since January 2009: 58 in 2009, 59 in 2010, 58 last year and 53 this year.
EXCUSES: Beijing is using government and research vessels as a pretext to harass the nation and enter its EEZ, and engage in ‘hegemonic expansion,’ the coast guard said The Coast Guard Administration yesterday said it drove away Chinese oceanographic research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 22 (向陽紅33) from restricted waters after warning it that it was in Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Chinese vessel entered restricted waters off the coast of Yilan County’s Suao (蘇澳) at 11:35pm on Thursday, the coast guard said, adding that it dispatched the Lanyu patrol vessel and the boat PP-10077 to shadow the Chinese ship and issue radio warnings ordering it to leave. China has no sovereignty over waters off Taiwan’s east coast, Lanyu’s crew told Xiang Yang Hong 22 over the radio, and demanded
BAIT AND SWITCH: Allowing KMT-run counties to sell to China while the threat of abrupt cancelations hangs overhead is another form of coercion, officials said Beijing is using agricultural purchase offers announced during the Straits Forum to deepen Taiwan’s dependence on the Chinese market, a Taiwanese official said yesterday as they criticized the Taitung County commissioner’s participation in the initiative. During the Straits Forum held in Xiamen on Saturday, Chinese officials announced a sales and purchase agreement for agricultural products from some counties led by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Taitung County Commissioner Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴), who was barred from attending the event in person by the Mainland Affairs Council, participated via video. Under the agreement, China would purchase atemoyas, pomeloes, tea and grouper harvested in Taitung,
SHIFTING FIRE: While the tempo of purely military exercises around Taiwan has gone down somewhat, Beijing is working to isolate Lai diplomatically from support abroad Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is shifting tactics in his campaign to pressure Taiwan, ramping up diplomatic isolation of the nation while dialing down provocative displays of military aggression. Taiwan recorded a daily average of five Chinese military aircraft crossing the Taiwan Strait’s buffer line with China through May this year — half the number logged in the same period last year. In March, Beijing did not send a single fighter jet near Taiwan for seven days, the longest absence on record outside of typhoon season. In comparison, China sent 153 planes near Taiwan during one day at its peak in
Four Taiwanese universities have been ranked among the world's top 200 institutions in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings for next year, the highest Taiwan has ever placed in the category, with National Taiwan University (NTU) achieving its best performance at 54th globally and 17th in Asia. The four Taiwanese institutions in the global top 200 are NTU (54th), National Tsing Hua University (142nd), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (177th) and National Cheng Kung University (191st), the rankings showed. All four universities achieved their highest-ever global rankings this year, QS data showed. National Cheng Kung University entered the top 200 for
RSS