President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) list of approved promotions for major generals and lieutenant generals might exceed the limit that the Ministry of National Defense (MND) has come to expect under former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), a source at the ministry said.
The military promotes qualifying officers to major general and lieutenant general every six months, and its list for the second half of this year has seven people earmarked for promotion to lieutenant general and 31 to major general, the source said.
The source cited military officials as saying that under the Tsai administration, the Ma administration’s limits have already been exceeded, with eight generals serving in the military, while the cap was seven under Ma’s administration.
The Ma administration put a limit on total promotions, with 27 to 30 being the range for half-yearly promotions to major general and lieutenant general, the source said, adding that over the past five years the Ma administration kept to its self-imposed range of promotions.
The latest list has not adhered to the 30-person limit that was mandated by the Ma administration, the source said, adding that it was up to Tsai whether to approve all 38 nominations for the second half of this year.
The list of promotions is to be officially announced on Wednesday and a ceremony is to be held on Thursday so Tsai can attend before she departs on Friday for an official visit to Panama and Paraguay, the ministry said.
The seven candidates for promotion to lieutenant general are: Captain of the Presidential Guard Liu Chih-pin (劉志斌); Deputy Dean of the National Defense University Chiu Shu-hua (邱樹華); Deputy Commander of the Republic of China Army 6th Corps Fu Cheng-cheng (傅正誠); Commander of Penghu Defense Command Wang Hsing-li (王興禮); MND Administrative Affairs Office director Hsiung Hou-chi (熊厚基); Republic of China Air Force Command Chief of Staff Fan Ta-wei (范大維); and MND Comptroller Bureau Director Chen Kuo-sheng (陳國勝).
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