Wu Shih-wen (; born 24 July 1934) was the Minister of
National Defense of the
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
from 2000 to 2002. He was a career military officer, joining the ROC Army Artillery first as a conscript gunner in 1952, then as a Fires Lieutenant in the
Taiwanese Navy in 1955, later served as Superintendent of Naval Academy and Commander-in-chief of the Navy. He was considered to be a military and foreign policy hawk, who resisted military reforms and rapprochement with the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. During the
Third Taiwan Straits Crisis
The Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, also called the 1995–1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis or the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, was the effect of a series of missile tests conducted by the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the waters surrounding Taiwan ...
he was suspected of ordering Amphibious Marines & Coastal Artillery units to stage live fire drills as a response to the
PLA Navy's muscle flexing (and in defiance of the government's and the United States' wish for deescalation).
References
Taiwanese Ministers of National Defense
Living people
1934 births
Kuomintang politicians in Taiwan
Taiwanese people from Guangdong
Republic of China politicians from Guangdong
People from Taishan, Guangdong
Politicians from Jiangmen
Republic of China Navy admirals
{{Taiwan-mil-bio-stub