Several Control Yuan members yesterday called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to implement the goal of seeing a civilian Minister of National Defense exercise leadership over the armed forces, an idea that was enshrined in the two national defense acts passed 10 years ago.
“Over the past 10 years, the country’s commanders in chief have shown concern about civilian control of the military and the military hasn’t been ready for such a development, which would be a symbol of military modernization,” Control Yuan member Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) said.
Huang and his colleagues Yu Teng-fang (余騰芳), Lee Ping-nan (李炳南) and Chao Chang-ping (趙昌平) called a press conference announcing their review of the implementation of the National Defense Act (國防法) and the Organic Act of the Ministry of National Defense (國防部組織法).
The two acts established the principle of civilian control over the armed forces, but aside from Michael Tsai (蔡明憲), who was unexpectedly appointed defense minister after his predecessor, Lee Tien-yu (李天羽), resigned over an alleged scandal, other defense ministers were all members of the military.
During that period, three defense ministers were transferred directly from the position of chief of general staff — Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明), Lee Jye (李杰) and Lee Tien-yu — while former defense minister Chen Chao-ming (陳肇敏) and incumbent minister Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) became minister after being discharged from the army after four years and five years respectively.
“It is a shame that former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) did not accomplish the goal during his term and now the opportunity is in Ma’s hands,” Huang said.
Lee Ping-nan said there was plenty of room to improve the defense ministry’s policy of enlisting more civilian officials in the ministry.
“While it is true that it takes time for practices imported from Western society to take root in this country, 10 years should be enough time,” he said.
Huang said that Kao supported a suggestion by Control Yuan members that the law should require that individuals with a military background could only be appointed defense minister after having been discharged from the military for a number of years.
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. The single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 400,000 and 800,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, saber-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. A single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 800,000 to 400,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, sabre-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
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