Yen Teh-fa

In this Chinese name, the family name is Yen.
Yen Teh-fa
嚴德發
Official portrait, 2024
5th Minister of the Veterans Affairs Council
Incumbent
Assumed office
20 May 2024
Prime MinisterCho Jung-tai
Preceded byFeng Shih-kuan
Member of the National Security Council
In office
23 February 2021 – 20 May 2024
PresidentTsai Ing-wen
In office
16 January 2017 – 23 May 2017
PresidentTsai Ing-wen
33rd Minister of National Defense
In office
26 February 2018 – 23 February 2021
Prime MinisterWilliam Lai
Su Tseng-chang
Vice Minister
See list
Preceded byFeng Shih-kuan
Succeeded byChiu Kuo-cheng
20th Secretary-General of the National Security Council
In office
18 May 2017 – 26 February 2018
PresidentTsai Ing-wen
DeputyTsai Ming-yen
Preceded byJoseph Wu
Succeeded byDavid Lee
24th Chief of the General Staff of the ROC Armed Forces
In office
30 January 2015 – 30 November 2016
DeputyPu Tze-chun
Preceded byKao Kuang-chi
Succeeded byChiu Kuo-cheng
5th Commander of the ROC Army
In office
16 January 2014 – 29 January 2015
Preceded byLee Shying-jow
Succeeded byChiu Kuo-cheng
7th Vice Minister of Armaments of National Defense
In office
16 August 2013 – 15 January 2014
MinisterYen Ming
Preceded byKao Kuang-chi
Succeeded byLee Shying-jow
Personal details
Born (1952-11-14) 14 November 1952 (age 72)
Cianjhen, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
CitizenshipTaiwanese
Political partyIndependent
SpouseChu Tai-ying
RelativesYen Teh-tsai (brother)
Alma materRepublic of China Military Academy
Tri-service University
Nickname"Brother Fa"
Military service
Allegiance Republic of China
Branch/service Republic of China Army
Years of service1975–2016
Rank General (Chinese: Èrjí Shàngjiàng)
Battles/warsTyphoon Morakot

Yen Teh-fa (traditional Chinese: 嚴德發; simplified Chinese: 严德发; pinyin: Yán Défā; born 14 November 1952) is a Taiwanese politician and retired general of the ROC Army who has served as the minister of the Veterans Affairs Council since 2024. His ancestral home was in Nanjing. He was previously the Minister of National Defense and the secretary-general of the National Security Council. He was the chief of the general staff of the ROC armed forces from 30 January 2015 until 1 December 2016. He was the vice minister for armaments of the National Defense Ministry (MND) from 9 August 2013 until 15 January 2014.

Education

Yen graduated from the Republic of China Military Academy in 1975 and later attended the War College of the National Defense University.[1]

Military career

Upon retirement in 2016, Yen was awarded the Order of the Cloud and Banner.

In August 2009, Yen joined the disaster relief efforts under the 8th Army Corps following the Typhoon Morakot.[2]

In August 2013, Yen was named the vice minister of defense for armaments.[1][3] He left the post in January 2014, and was appointed the chief of the general staff of the Republic of China Armed Forces.[4] Yen retired in December 2016, and was succeeded by Chiu Kuo-cheng.[5] In May 2017, Yen returned to public service as secretary-general of the National Security Council.[6] In February 2018, he was named minister of national defense in place of Feng Shih-kuan.[7][8] His term was extended in February 2020 due to the ROCAF UH-60M crash with high-rank officers including Chief of the General Staff, General Shen Yi-ming, deceased.[9] In February 2021, Yen was named a consultant to the National Security Council.[10][11] He formally joined the NSC on 23 February 2021.[12][13]

Legacy

On 6 January 2018, Yen criticized the PRC's unilateral decision to activate the north-bound airline of M503 Flight Route as unilaterally changing the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and severely impacting the peace and stability in the East Asian region.[14][15]

On 29 March 2018, a lady guest to a military base posted a selfie inside the classified Boeing AH-64 Apache cabin to Facebook, which exposed the Apache Helicopter Scandal [zh]. Further investigation on the host helicopter pilot, Lieutenant-colonel Lau, revealed multiple incidents of corruption and security breaches associated with the 601 Brigade of the ROC Army Aviation and Special Forces Command [zh], which led to 20 officers being either prosecuted or sanctioned. Yen became the first Chief of the General Staff receiving a demerit in the ROC Armed Forces history.[16][17]

On 3 October 2018, MP Freddy Lim, former Director of the Amnesty International Taiwan, inquired in a hearing session of the Foreign and National Defense Committee in the Legislative Yuan for re-investigation on the Lieyu massacre files in the military archive to render an apology to the victims' families through the Vietnamese Representative Office,[18][19] but Minister Yen disagreed, claiming that troops followed the "SOP" of the Martial Law to execute the orders, and had been court-martialed. Later, the MND followed up to state that "It has been too difficult to identify the deceased due to the long time, hence (the case) can not be processed further". This served as the sole statement of the government of the Republic of China on the case since martial law was lifted in 1987.[20][21]

References

  1. ^ a b Chen, Pei-huang; Huang, Maia (9 August 2013). "Army Gen. Yen Teh-fa named vice defense minister". Taiwan News. Central News Agency. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2018. Alt URL
  2. ^ Shih, Hsiu-chuan; Yeh, Joseph (23 February 2018). "Yen chosen as new defense minister for his experience: official". Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  3. ^ "General named vice minister". Taipei Times. 11 August 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Ministry swaps postings". Taipei Times. 12 January 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  5. ^ "Chiu Kuo-cheng appointed chief of the general staff". Taipei Times. 25 November 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  6. ^ Shih, Hsiu-chuan; Yeh, Joseph (22 February 2013). "Yen chosen as new defense minister for his experience: official". Central News Agency. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  7. ^ Shih, Hsiu-chuan; Yeh, Joseph (23 February 2018). "Taiwan replaces foreign minister, China policy chief (update)". Central News Agency. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  8. ^ Shih, Hsiu-chuan; Yeh, Joseph (23 February 2018). "Government reshuffle lineup announced". Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  9. ^ Zho, Lala (10 January 2021). "為什麼一天到晚在傳國防部長嚴德發要下台？" [Why are there always rumors that Minister Yan is stepping down?] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei: CredereMedia. Retrieved 1 February 2022 – via Yahoo! News.
  10. ^ Su, Yung-yao; Lee, Hsin-fang; Chin, Jonathan (20 February 2021). "Tsai changes up Cabinet". Taipei Times. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  11. ^ Liu, Kuan-ting; Wen, Kuei-hsiang; Mazzetta, Matthew (19 February 2021). "Taiwan names new defense, intelligence, China affairs heads (update)". Central News Agency. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  12. ^ "New MAC minister eyes end to impasse". Taipei Times. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  13. ^ Zhang, Yifei (20 February 2021). "嚴德發「降轉」國安諮委？ 黃創夏諷：當然是「升級」！過年要說好話..." [Was Yen "demoted" to NSC? Commentator Huang: It's the (Lunar) New Year, so we surely congratulate as a promotion...] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei: Newtalk News. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  14. ^ Chiu Bihui (2 February 2018). "China vs. Taiwan - controversy over flight route M503". Taipei: Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  15. ^ 李欣芳; 施曉光 (6 January 2018). "中國新航路 國安會批衝擊東亞和平" [National Security Security Council criticizes China's new Flight Route as an attack impact on the East Asian Peace] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei: Liberty Times. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  16. ^ 呂欣憓 (8 April 2015). "李蒨蓉登阿帕契 10星37顆花共20將校受懲" [Janet Lee boarded AH-64E; 20 high-rank officers receives administrative penalties] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  17. ^ Jason Pan (8 July 2015). "'Apache helicopter scandal' officers to be impeached". Taipei: Taipei Times. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  18. ^ "【19屍20命】浯島文學首獎探討「三七事件」小金門的殺戮時代" [Top Prize of the Wudao Literacy Award for the Research on March 7 Incident,the Killing Era in Lesser Kinmen]. UP Media (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Kinmen. 23 November 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  19. ^ Guan Ren-jian (7 March 2008). "國軍屠殺越南難民的三七事件" [ROC Army Massacre Vietnamese Refugees in March Incident] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). PChome News. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  20. ^ 外交及國防委員會 (3 October 2018). "會議隨選" [Proceedings Broadcast of the Foreign and National Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuan, IVOD Network Multimedia Video System] (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei: 立法院議事轉播IVOD網路多媒體隨選視訊系統. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  21. ^ 林昶佐委員、嚴德發部長 (3 October 2018). "立法院公報第107卷第81期委員會紀錄立法院第9屆第6會期外交及國防委員會第3次全體委員會議紀錄" [Foreign and National Defense Committee Records No. 3, Legislative Yuan Gazette, Vol. 107, No. 81, Legislative Yuan Term 9, Session 6] (PDF) (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei: 立法院公報第107卷第81期. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
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