New chief of military staff Shen Yi-ming

Taipei, July 1 (CNA) Vice Defense Minister Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴) took office as the chief of the general staff at a ceremony presided over by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday, replacing Li Hsi-ming (李喜明), who retired the same day.

A graduate of Taiwan's Air Force Academy in 1979 and the U.S. Air War College in 2002, Shen has served 37 months as an Air Force commander and has promoted joint operations training and disaster prevention and rescue, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND).

Air Force Commander Chang Che-ping (張哲平) will fill the vacancy left by Shen, and Gen. Hsiung Hou-chi (熊厚基), an Air Force deputy commander, will fill the vacancy left by Chang, with immediate effect, MND said.

As commander-in-chief of Taiwan's armed forces, Tsai said, she has ordered Shen to help carry out the blueprint for defense and warfare training, nurture military talent, and lay the foundation for the reform of Taiwan's defense forces.

Shen was also ordered by the president to promote regional peace, security and stability.

(By Matt Yu and Chung Yu-chen)
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