Michael Tsai (
The handover ceremony took place yesterday morning behind closed doors.
Ministry spokesman Yu Sy-tue (虞思祖) told reporters that Minister without Portfolio Huang Hwei-chen (黃輝珍) chaired the ceremony.
He said Tsai held his first meeting as defense chief in the ministry shortly after the ceremony.
Lee decided on Saturday to resign for failing to smoothly carry out an order to establish an arms company Taiwan Goal, incurring doubts and controversy along the way.
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) had planned to be the largest stakeholder in the arms company at 45 percent.
Tsai is the former vice minister of national defense.
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.
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) 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.
In a new development, the KMT caucus yesterday said it may organize a "truth investigation committee" to probe arms procurement projects related to the company should the Cabinet fail to disband it by Friday.
"Michael Tsai has been appointed new Minister of National Defense for the remaining three-months of [President Chen Shui-bian's (
Fai alleged that the company may sign under-the-table arms deals if it is allowed to exist.
"We must warn Chen's government to take care of the company as soon as possible or [the caucus] will exercise oversight of the firm by establishing a truth investigation committee," he said.
The fact that 45 percent of the newly established arms dealership's initial capital would come from the ministry had sparked speculation from the KMT that the government would seek to profit from the company's arms trading.
The KMT had also alleged that the legislature would not be able to supervise operations of a private arms company.
Opposition lawmakers also alleged that Vice Premier Chiou I-jen (
During his administrative report to the legislature last Friday, the premier defended Cabinet policy by saying that Taiwan Goal would not be disbanded.
However, the Cabinet announced a sudden halt to government investment in the company on Saturday while Lee surprised many by resigning.
"In terms of Taiwan Goal's establishment, we hoped the government could control it while the legislature could supervise it ... but the company did not live up to these two principles," Fai said.
During a visit to the caucus later yesterday, Tsai said the premier had pointed out that Taiwan Goal would be disbanded soon, but "the disbandment must follow certain legal procedures."
Tsai said he could not promise disbandment of the company by Friday because he did not have decision-making power.
Nevertheless, Tsai said Taiwan Goal will not seek to exist by assuming under-the-table operation or changing the title of the company.
In response to the KMT's proposal, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (
But he said it is ridiculous that the KMT wanted to probe a company that had not even begun to operate.
DPP Legislator William Lai (賴清德) said that the DPP insisted a private arms company could help promote the nation's defense industry.
He said that he believed the KMT opposed the company only to gain political mileage from the company during the presidential campaign.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas