Retired navy admiral Huang Shu-kuang (黃曙光) is to remain a National Security Council (NSC) adviser and the convener of the Indigenous Defense Submarine (IDS) program after the new administration is sworn in on Monday next week, the presidential handover committee said on Tuesday.
Huang, who tendered his resignation as NSC adviser and IDS program convener last month, decided to stay on after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and president-elect William Lai (賴清德) asked him to do so, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
Tsai and Lai both have strong faith in Huang, and the incoming president asked him to continue overseeing the major project to bolster the nation’s defense capabilities, the source said.
Photo: CNA
Huang said in a statement last month that he had resigned in hopes that it would end “politically charged, unfounded accusations and slander targeting the IDS program.”
Tsai did not approve his resignation, and he has since been supervising the testing of the prototype submarine the Hai Kun (海鯤), or “Narwhal,” at a CSBC Corp, Taiwan facility, the source said.
The first military officer to be promoted by Tsai to the rank of admiral second class, Huang served as navy chief from June 2016 to January 2020, when he was named chief of general staff.
His primary mission under the outgoing president has been to push the IDS program forward. In September 2021, Tsai appointed him as an NSC adviser and designated him convener of the IDS program.
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