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.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
RSS