Since being diagnosed in June with liver cancer, Chuang Ming-yao, 73, had been in and out of the hospital. Despite their best efforts, doctors at at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital were unable to stop the cancer spread.
"Chuang was a respected man, a very hard-working individual," said Wu Shi-wen (
"If he [Chuang] took as good care of his health as he did with his work, he would still be alive," Wu added.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
On behalf of President Chen Shui-bian (
Yu said that the Presidential Office would help Chuang's family take care of Chuang's funeral arrangements.
Chuang was highly regarded by both Chen and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) due to his military experience and his expertise in Japan-related affairs.
Chuang's career included service as commander of 142nd fleet, the president of the navy's non-commissioned officers' school, the chief-of-staff at Navy General Headquarters, vice minister of national defense and the first Taiwanese ever to hold the position of naval commander-in-chief.
Though Chuang ended his military career by stepping down as naval commander-in-chief after the murder case of naval captain Yin Ching-feng (
In 1996, Chuang served as Taiwan's de facto-ambassador to Japan and when Chen assumed the presidency in May 2000, Chuang was tapped by Chen to return to Taiwan to serve as secretary-general of the National Security Council.
The Yin murder case brought the Lafayette frigate weapons procurement scandal to the surface, during which military officials and arms brokers were jailed on charges including bribery and leaking military secrets.
The murder case, which remains unsolved, had dogged Chuang whenever frequent rumors citing Chuang's relationship to Yin surfaced.
Many believe that Chuang, though not directly involved in the murder, as the navy's top official must have harbored information related to the murder case.
In August of last year, Chen re-designated Chuang to head the Association of East Asian Relations to take advantage of his expertise and relations with prominent figures in Japan.
"Coming from a military background, Chuang made remarkable use of his decision-making and maneuvering skills in dealing with diplomatic affairs," said Chu Wen-ching (
Chu said that through Chuang's effort and diplomacy skill, "he contributed much to the advancement of relations between Taiwan and Japan."
Examples such as the 1998 resumption of air travel between Taipei and Osaka, which had been terminated after the two nations cut diplomatic ties in 1972, as well as the Japanese government's decision to loosen restrictions on Taiwanese tourists' multiple-entry visas, well illustrate his diplomatic capacity.
Chu said that it was through Chuang's lobbying efforts that when Chinese President Jiang Zemin (
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
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