A former National Security Bureau (NSB) chief returned to the post yesterday after he was tapped by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Thursday to take over the helm of the country’s top intelligence body.
Tsai Chao-ming (蔡朝明), first non-Mainlander to hold the country’s top intelligence post, succeeded Shi Hwei-yow (許惠祐) as the NSB director-general after Shi’s resignation on Tuesday.
Media reports said Ma chose Tsai because of his knowledge of intelligence affairs and his belief that illegal wiretapping must not be allowed.
Tsai was first promoted to the top NSB post in 2001 by then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
shooting
He resigned in 2004 to take responsibility for the March 19 shooting of Chen and then vice president Annette Lu in Tainan City on the eve of their re-election.
Shi confirmed on Wednesday that he had tendered his resignation a day earlier to facilitate Ma’s efforts to rearrange his administration’s lineup.
He said he did not tender his resignation until a month after Ma’s inauguration because he was waiting to pass his job to his successor.
Also yesterday, new National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞) assumed office in a changeover ceremony presided over by Minister of the Interior Liao Liao-yi (廖了以) at the NPA headquarters in Taipei City.
Wang, a former director-general of the Taipei City Police Department, took control of the nation’s top police post from Hou You-yi (侯友宜), who has been appointed as the new president of the Central Police University.
Speaking at the ceremony, Liao praised Hou for his outstanding performance as NPA chief, noting that the public’s level of satisfaction with public order increased dramatically during his two-plus years in the post.
morale
Liao also lauded Hou’s success in boosting the morale of the police force and securing salary raises.
Liao expressed the hope that Wang will be able to build on the foundation laid down by Hou and lead the 70,000-strong police force in making Taiwan the safest country in Asia.
For his part, Wang said that his task as new head of the NPA will focus on the four goals of improving human rights, boosting the police force’s effectiveness, increasing discipline and improving the force’s image.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3