Yen Ming

Yen Ming
嚴明
30th Minister of National Defense of the Republic of China
In office
8 August 2013 – 30 January 2015
President Ma Ying-jeou
Deputy Yen Teh-fa, Lee Hsiang-chou, Chiu Kuo-cheng, Andrew Hsia
Preceded by Andrew Yang
Kao Kuang-chi (acting)
Succeeded by Kao Kuang-chi
22nd Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of China Armed Forces
In office
16 January 2013 – 7 August 2013
Preceded by Lin Chen-yi
Succeeded by Kao Kuang-chi
4th Commander of the Republic of China Air Force
In office
June 2011 – 15 January 2013
Preceded by Lei Yu-chi
Succeeded by Liu Chen-wu
Personal details
Born (1949-11-14) 14 November 1949
Tainan County, Taiwan
Nationality  Republic of China
Alma mater Republic of China Air Force Academy
National Defense University
Military service
Allegiance  Republic of China
Service/branch Republic of China Air Force
Years of service 1971–2013
Rank General
Battles/wars Third Taiwan Strait Crisis
Yen Ming (left) and Hsiao Wei-min (right) in Legislative Yuan

Yen Ming (Chinese: 嚴明; pinyin: Yán Míng) was the Minister of National Defense of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 8 August 2013 to 30 January 2015.[1]

Early life

Yen graduated from the Republic of China Air Force Academy in Kaohsiung.[2]

Early career

Upon graduation, Yen worked his way through the Republic of China Air Force, serving as a wing chief, president of Air Force Academy, Air Force chief of staff and Air Force deputy commanding general.

ROC Air Force General

Yen Ming as the Commander of the ROC Air Force

General position appointment

In October 2008, Yen was promoted as the General of the Air Force.

ROC Armed Forces Chief of the General Staff

Chief of the General Staff position appointment

On 3 January 2013, the Ministry of the Interior announced that President Ma Ying-jeou had approved the appointment of Yen to the position of Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of China Armed Forces. He would replace Lin Chen-yi who was appointed as the military strategy adviser to the President.[3]

ROC Minister of National Defense

Ministry position appointment

Yen replaces acting Defense Minister Kao Kuang-chi after the sudden resignation of Defense Minister Andrew Yang, just 6 days after taking his office after the previous Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu's resignation due to the death scandal of Corporal Hung Chung-chiu.

The Executive Yuan officially appointed him on 8 August 2013 from his previous post as ROC Chief of the General Staff. Acting Defense Minister Kao Kuang-chi replaces his position as the ROC Chief of the General Staff.[4]

Taiwanese woman abduction in Malaysia

Commenting on the recent abduction incident over a Taiwanese female in Sabah, Malaysia, Yen said that although the ROC Ministry of National Defense (MND) has the capability of special forces to save the woman, but then those armed forces are reserved for the use of armed conflict between nation, and MND should not step into an international incident which is the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) should do. Overseas special forces deployment will only be possible if there is a mutual treaty between the ROC and the host country.[5]

Criticism

Disarmaments of the ROC Marine Corps cause Veterans' protests

In mid January 2014, Yen announced that the government plan to cut the number of military to below 200,000 personnel by the end of 2019 to adjust the organization and restructure the armed forces, in which the goal is to make ROC military to be small but elite, small but skillful and small but strong.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Defense minister resigns, citing personal reasons". Taipei Times. 2015-01-28. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. ↑ "Taiwan Air Force Commander to serve as new chief staff". China Defense Mashup. 2013-01-04. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  3. ↑ "Air Force commander to serve as new chief of general staff". The China Post. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  4. ↑ "Ma appoints General Yen Ming as defense minister". Taipei Times. 2014-06-22. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  5. ↑ "No to special force rescue: ministry". Taipei Times. 2014-06-22. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  6. ↑ "Military to be cut to under 200,000". Taipei Times. 2014-06-22. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
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