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.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
RSS