President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has ordered a reshuffle of top military and security officials in the Cabinet, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said yesterday.
Chang told a news conference at the Presidential Office that National Security Bureau Director-General Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) is to replace Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發), while Yen is to become a National Security Council (NSC) consultant.
Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) is to become the bureau’s director-general, while NSC consultant Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) is to take over Chen’s post, he said.
Photo: CNA
The transition for the four officials to their new posts is to begin next week, he added.
Tsai believes the adjustments to the national security team are necessary to meet the challenges of a post-COVID-19 pandemic world where the regional and international situation has changed, Chang said.
Tsai decided on the changes after comprehensively reviewing the situation and consulting with Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Chang added.
Commenting on the reshuffle, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus issued a statement saying the rehashing of the same cast of national security officials is a “seat and circle game” that brings no value to the relationship across the Taiwan Strait or with the US.
On the other hand, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers mostly supported the reshufle choices.
Having Chen, who has no military or intelligence background, assume the role at the bureau is a step forward, DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said, adding that Chen would be able to bring a new perspective to the NSB with his knowledge of cross-strait affairs.
Chiu Tai-san’s background in law and his appointment to the MAC position suggests that the government is considering national security-related laws as a point of reference when handling cross-strait affairs, as well as Hong Kong and Macau affairs, he added.
DPP Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said that Chiu Kuo-cheng’s experience in intelligence would be a boon to the Ministry of National Defense.
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Ann Kao (高虹安) said that Chiu Tai-san, Chiu Kuo-cheng and Chen are all close aides of Tsai and the reshuffle of their positions seems to be nothing but a round of musical chairs.
The reshuffle shows that Tsai’s circle of confidantes remains closed and small, she added.
However, Kao said that from the perspective of a new US president, appointing experienced individuals to these positions might be the safest move.
Additional reporting by Huang Hsin-po, Chen Yu and CNA
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
RSS