President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday approved Andrew Yang (楊念祖) as deputy minister of national defense to replace Chang Liang-jen (張良任).
The Ministry of National Defense has two deputy ministers.
While Chang will be replaced, the other deputy minister, Chao Shih-chang (趙世璋), will stay on.
Chang was appointed to the post last September and was put in charge of administrative affairs. Chao, appointed in February, is in charge of armaments.
A former military official said yesterday that Yang, secretary-general of the Taipei-based Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, was unlikely to last long, as he — like Chang — has no military background.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Yang’s advantages consisted of being an “academic who has a moderate temperament and is honest, cooperative and obedient.”
Yang would not stay on long because it would be hard for him to adjust to the military culture, the official said.
The working hours are long — usually 7am to 10pm or 11pm — and the meetings are endless, the official said.
“Civilian ministers worry too much. They don’t take naps, so they’re worn out at the end of the day,” he said.
Furthermore, the job of a deputy defense minister is to tackle thorny issues that are hard for a civilian, he said.
“The position of deputy defense minister is like the right-hand man of the Bamboo Union [竹聯幫] leader,” the official said. “If you don’t come from a gang, you don’t know how to do your job.”
Meanwhile, the Cabinet yesterday announced the appointment of more deputy ministers, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Shen Lyu-hsun (沈呂巡).
Shen will succeed Andrew Hsia (夏立言), who resigned over an order sent to Taiwan’s overseas representative offices instructing them to reject non-cash foreign aid following Typhoon Morakot.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
RSS