President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday touted the importance of enhancing the nation’s self-defense capabilities in a ceremony marking the shuffling of military brass.
Tsai’s remarks came amid rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait and on the same day the Chinese Communist Party celebrated the centennial of its founding in Beijing.
General Chang Guan-chung (張冠群), a former deputy minister of national defense, received the Order of the Cloud and Banner from Tsai, as he stepped down to assume the post of military strategy adviser at the Presidential Office.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office via CNA
Admiral Mei Chia-shu (梅家樹), the Deputy Chief of the General Staff and its executive officer, was promoted from vice admiral.
Taiwanese have high expectations for the armed forces and there is no time to wait to bolster national defense, Tsai said in a dedication at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
Chang’s decoration and Mei’s promotion were well deserved, and they are expected to continue their tireless work in improving the armed forces, she said.
As vice minister of national defense for armaments, Chang made immense contributions to the development of equipment, medical services and organizational work in military mobilization, Tsai said.
Chang’s grasp of technology played an important role in the development of armored fighting vehicle turrets, indigenous warship weapon systems and the T-5 Brave Eagle jet trainer program, she said.
He would continue to advise the government on improving weapons systems, she added.
Mei has a broad understanding of naval affairs from his tenure as captain of the ROCS Kee Lung, commander of the 146th Fleet and director of the Armaments Bureau, Tsai said, adding that she has full confidence in his ability to lead the navy.
Spouses of service members have the nation and the presidency’s gratitude for taking care of soldiers, she added.
The military confronts a complex environment shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic and China’s military threats, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) told officials at another ceremony on Wednesday.
The military is to focus on improving training standards, to ensure that troops act decisively, and implement the combined arms operational concept, he said.
Additionally, the military must strengthen multiagency cooperation in defense mobilization, and integrate civilian and wartime preparations, he said.
Officers should improve internal administration, exercise leadership, be thoroughly informed of the threat environment and possess the will to defend the nation, he said.
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
RSS