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MANY CIVILIAN CANDIDATES QUALIFIED AS DEFENSE MINISTER: PRESIDENT

ROC Central News Agency

2007-02-07 15:10:32

    Taipei, Feb. 7 (CNA) Touting his idea of civilian control of the military, President Chen Shui-bian said Wednesday there are numerous civilian candidates available who are qualified to be minister of national defense.

    Chen claimed that although he is reluctant to talk about his contribution to the country, he has nurtured a lot of talent for the country over the past several years.

    For example, there are "more than half a dozen" aspirants in the ruling Democratic Progressive Party who are interested in running for the presidency in 2008, while there are "a truckload of" civilian candidates who are qualified to be defense minister, Chen said.

    The president made the remarks while presiding over a changover ceremony in which Chiou I-jen was sworn in as the new secretary-general of the Presidential Office, replacing Tan Sun Chen, who took over Chiou's previous post of National Security Council secretary-general on the same occasion.

    Chen has recently appointed Shi Hwei-yow, deputy director of the National Security Bureau, as the intelligence agency's first civilian head and expressed the hope that the principle of civilian control of the military can be realized in the final year of his term as president.

    Commenting on the issue Tuesday, Minister of National Defense Lee Jye said that he hopes the goal can be achieved as soon as possible and that he "can leave any time" if the president has found a suitable person to replace him.

(By Y.F. Low)

ENDITEM/Li