Favoritism and factionalism still play a major role in the promotion of generals -- as illustrated at the latest top-level promotion ceremony held on Wednesday -- at the expense of fairness and justice, defense sources said yesterday.
This entrenched and unfair practice even gave birth to a universally accepted motto in the military: "connections come before capabilities," they said.
Among the 46 military officers promoted on Wednesday to the ranks of major general/rear admiral and lieutenant general/vice admiral, most can be described as being favored by one military leader or another, or as belonging to one faction or another in the military, the sources said.
Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明) and Chief of the General Staff Admiral Li Chieh (李傑), are the two top leaders of the military and are also the sources of the favoritism and factionalism that was once again exemplified in Wednesday's promotion ceremony, the first of its kind since the new military command structure was inaugurated on March 1, the sources said.
Tang, for instance, favored a relative of former defense minister Chiang Chung-ling (蔣仲苓) and put him on the list of officers who were promoted on Wednesday.
Major General Fu He-ling (傅鶴齡), Chiang's son-in-law, is widely known to have received the promotion to this rank thanks to Chiang's recommendations.
This move is rumored to have come about because Tang is grateful to Chiang for having helped him a lot in the past.
Without Chiang's help, Tang would have retired early from the military and would not have been able to climb to the top. With Chiang's help he became the army's commander-in-chief, then chief of the general staff and defense minister, the sources said.
Tang, a native Taiwanese, was known to have been disliked by his peers and superiors in the military, who were mostly mainlanders, during his early development in the military. He had been publicly insulted by a mainlander general for not being able to speak Mandarin well.
It is not clear why Chiang, also a mainlander, was willing to help him as he was about to be forced into early retirement because of opposition from mainlander officers in the military.
Whatever the case, the favor that Chiang did for Tang years ago is now bearing fruit in the form of the favor that Tang is showing to officers who have connections with Chiang, the sources said.
Chiang's son-in-law is only one of the military officials to benefit from the special relationship between Chiang and Tang.
Chief of the General Staff Li has shown the same willingness to promote officers on political grounds.
Kung Chia-cheng (龔家政), who was promoted on Wednesday, is also one of Li's most trusted men and has been criticized as being unqualified for the job.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
RSS