Army Commander General Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) has been appointed the new chief of the general staff, replacing General Yen Teh-fa (嚴德發), who is to retire on Thursday next week, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
Lieutenant General Wang Shin-lung (王信龍), deputy chief of the general staff, has been named to succeed Chiu as army commander.
Chiu and Wang’s appointments are to take effect on Thursday next week, the ministry said.
The announcement came a day after the Presidential Office and the ministry declined to comment on a report in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) that Chiu had been selected for the top job.
The choice of Chiu is not without controversy, as it breaks with the tradition of having the chief of the general staff rotate between the army, navy and air force.
In addition, Chiu, 63, would have to resign in May next year when he reaches the mandatory retirement age, which would make him the shortest-serving chief of the general staff in the nation’s history, a military source said.
Chiu has served as army commander since January last year. He previously served as deputy minister of national defense, National Defense Academy president and Reserve Command commander.
Wang, 56, was born in Hualien and graduated from the nation’s military academy. He has served as administrative deputy minister of national defense and deputy chief of the general staff, and led several relief operations after natural disasters.
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
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,
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
RSS