Chief of the General Staff General Tang Yao-ming (
The handover took place under the watchful eyes of Defense Minister Wu Shih-wen (
After the ceremony, Admiral Li, who on Wednesday passed command of the navy on to his successor, Admiral Miao Yung-ching (苗永慶), the 17th chief of the general staff .
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Li is also the fifth naval leader to be the Chief of the General-Staff, an office occupied seven times by army generals and five times by air force generals.
In the past, the chief of the general staff was the most powerful man in the military, but that situation will now change.
According to the new military command structure to be instituted on March 1, the chief of the general staff is to be downgraded to the equivalent of a chief of staff to the defense minister. The defense minister will then assume the role of most powerful man in the military.
Because of the changes, Li's ascension to the post of chief of the general staff received little publicity yesterday, despite the handover ceremony at the Ministry of National Defense.
The ceremony was attended by top brass representing all the armed services, including the military's new leadership.
Li, 62, is known as an expert in submarine operations and anti-submarine warfare. He had been the commander of the navy's small fleet of submarines as well as the leader of the service's anti-submarine command.
Li is therefore expected to focus much of his attention over the next two to three years on acquiring the eight diesel-powered submarines and four Kidd-class destroyers promised by the US.
Li generally avoids the spotlight and usually keeps his lips tightly sealed whenever the press tries to get his comments on defense-related issues, especially arms sales.
But at a dinner with the press late last year, Li, apparently under the influence of alcohol, revealed a number of military secrets.
These included Taiwanese plans to cooperate with the US in building an underwater monitoring system to keep an eye on Chinese submarines.
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