New military chief of general staff appointed
ROC Central News Agency
2016/11/24 17:39:25
Taipei, Nov. 24 (CNA) Army Commander Gen. Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) has been appointed as the military's chief of the general staff, replacing Gen. Yen Teh-fa (嚴德發), who is to retire on Dec. 1, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced Thursday.
Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Wang Shin-lung (王信龍), deputy chief of the general staff, has been promoted to fill the post left vacant by Chiu.
The appointments will take effect on Dec. 1, according to the ministry.
Chiu, 63, will have to resign in May next year when he reaches his mandatory retirement age, according to the existing law, which will make him the shortest-serving chief of the general staff in history, a military source said.
As Yen and Chiu are both in the army, his appointment breaks with the tradition of selecting the head of the general staff from the army, navy and air force on a rotational basis, according to the source.
Wang, 56, was born in Hualien and graduated from the Republic of China Military Academy.
During his stints as administrative deputy defense minister and deputy chief of the general staff, he led several relief operations in the wake of natural disasters.
(By Lu Hsin-hui and Evelyn Kao)
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