Minister of National Defense Lee Tien-yu (
Lee, who assumed the post in May last year, expressed "deep regret" over the controversy surrounding the founding of Taiwan Goal, in which the Ministry of National Defense (MND) is the largest stakeholder at 45 percent.
As the minister of national defense, Lee said he was devoted to carrying out the nation's defense policy, promoting national security and caring for military personnel and their family.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
However, he decided to resign to take responsibility for failing to smoothly carry out an order to establish an arms company, incurring doubts and controversy along the way, he said.
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
"Lee insisted he had to take full responsibility for failing to properly deal with the Taiwan Goal matter," Chen told a press conference yesterday afternoon. "Everyone has his own career plan. We should all respect Lee's decision."
Tsai, 67, who has a doctorate from the California Western School of Law, served as a legislator for two terms and as a deputy representative to the US.
The premier confirmed the existence of Taiwan Goal on Feb. 15 following a report by the Chinese-language China Times that it had been established.
Since then, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have accused the government of seeking to make a profit from the arms trade.
Opposition lawmakers also alleged that Vice Premier Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) was involved in the firm, which was founded under the order of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), and that Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁), a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) stalwart, was appointed company president to reward him for his dedication to the party.
The Cabinet has defended the establishment of such a national defense management, production and trading firm, saying it would resolve many obstacles the country faces when procuring arms from abroad given its sensitive political status.
Taiwan Goal registered with the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Jan. 28 as a private company, with capital of NT$1 billion (US$31.15 million) and paid-in capital totaling NT$80 million.
Chen Chin-jun said the government had acted in accordance with the National Defense Act (
At the press conference yesterday, Chen Chin-jun also announced the premier's decision prohibiting government investment in any private national defense company.
"The establishment of Taiwan Goal and the government's policy to develop the defense industry have been slurred," he said. "As such, the premier has decided that government funds will no longer be used to invest in the private defense industry."
That could mean Taiwan Goal might have difficulty sourcing its initial capital of NT$200 million.
The company's plan was to source 45 percent of its capital from the defense ministry; 15 percent from Yao Hua Glass Co (
Information provided by the Cabinet showed that NT$80 million of the NT$200 million initial funding has been collected -- NT$50 million from China Steel Machinery and NT$30 million from Chunghwa System.
But the target NT$90 million from the MND and NT$30 million from Yao Hua had yet to be injected.
The Cabinet has insisted that Taiwan Goal is a private company, as the MND holds only 45 percent of the company.
Asked whether Wu will stay on as president of Taiwan Goal, Chen Chin-jun said that would be Wu's decision.
President Chen, who was in Nantou County yesterday, did not comment on the matter. The KMT caucus applauded Lee's resignation.
"Lee offered his resignation and saved his reputation," KMT caucus whip Alex Fei (
KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said Lee's resignation highlighted the fact that the firm was problematic and lacked legitimacy.
The caucus urged the government to disband the company immediately, while lashing out at the Cabinet's decision to appoint Tsai to take over Lee's position, accusing Tsai of being Chen Shui-bian's "preferred candidate."
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) told a separate press conference that although he respected Lee's decision to take responsibility for the controversy -- a move which Ker said showed Lee's dignity as a military person -- he nonetheless thought it was unnecessary for Lee to leave.
The KMT caucus' endless attacks on the establishment of the arms company, Lee and his ministry were the main reasons that led to Lee's resignation, Ker said, adding that the KMT caucus had faulted almost every government policy without reason.
The DPP caucus continues to support a private arms company to promote and integrate the nation's defense industry, he said.
When asked by reporters for comments, DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (
"We hope the public would look at the matter from the viewpoint of the system," Hsieh camp spokesman Hsu Kuo-yong (
Lee graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1959, completing training courses and receiving his pilot's wings in 1965.
In 2001, the president promoted him to lieutenant general and Lee became the deputy commander-in-chief of the Air Force. One year later, he was promoted again to full general, becoming the commander-in-chief of the Air Force.
In 2004, the president promoted him to the highest rank in the armed forces, giving him his fourth star and assigning him as chief of the general staff.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING, MO YAN-CHIH AND CNA
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary