Yen Teh-fa (; born 14 November 1952) is a

Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, ...

politician and retired

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

of the

Republic of China Army The Republic of China Army (ROCA), previously known as the Chinese Nationalist Army or Nationalist Revolutionary Army and unofficially as the Taiwanese Army, is the largest branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces. An estimated 80% of the ...

. His ancestral home was in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

. He was previously the Minister of

National Defense National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military attac ...

and the secretary-general of the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

. He was the chief of the general staff of the

Republic of China Armed Forces The Republic of China Armed Forces (ROC Armed Forces) are the armed forces of the Republic of China (ROC), once based in mainland China and currently in its remaining jurisdictions which include the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu ...

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 The Republic of China Military Academy () is the service academy for the army of the Republic of China, located in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung. Previously known as the the military academy produced commanders who fought in many of China' ...

in 1975 and later attended the War College of the

National Defense University The National Defense University (NDU) is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. As ...

Military career

In August 2009, Yen joined the disaster relief efforts under the 8th Army Corps following the

Typhoon Morakot Typhoon Morakot, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Kiko, was the deadliest typhoon to impact Taiwan in recorded history. The eighth named storm and fourth typhoon of the 2009 Pacific typhoon season, Morakot wrought catastrophic damage in Taiwa ...

. In August 2013, Yen was named the vice minister of defense for armaments.Alt URL
/ref> He left the post in January 2014, and was appointed the chief of the general staff of the

. Yen retired in December 2016, and was succeeded by

Chiu Kuo-cheng Chiu Kuo-cheng (; born 12 April 1953) is a Taiwanese politician and retired general of the Republic of China Army. He is the current Minister of National Defense. He was the Director-General of the National Security Bureau from 24 July 2019 to 22 ...

. In May 2017, Yen returned to public service as secretary-general of the

. In February 2018, he was named minister of national defense in place of

Feng Shih-kuan Feng Shih-kuan (; born 25 November 1945) is a Taiwanese politician. He served in the Republic of China Air Force from 1967 to 2006, retiring with the rank of General before assuming the post of Minister of National Defense in 2016. Feng stepped ...

. His term was extended in February 2020 due to the ROCAF UH-60M crash with high-rank officers including

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Af ...

, General

Shen Yi-ming Shen Yi-ming (; 30 March 1957 – 2 January 2020) was a Taiwanese military officer who served as a Republic of China Air Force general and the Chief of the General Staff, Deputy Minister of National Defense for Policy, and Commander of the ROC ...

, deceased. In February 2021, Yen was named a consultant to the

. He formally joined the NSC on 23 February 2021.

Legacy

On 6 January 2018, Yen criticized the PRC's unilateral decision to activate the north-bound

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

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. On 29 March 2018, a lady guest to a military base posted a

selfie A selfie () is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or smartphone, which may be held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick. Selfies are often shared on social media, via social networking services such as ...

inside the classified

Boeing AH-64 Apache The Boeing AH-64 Apache () is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night visi ...

cabin to

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

, which exposed the . Further investigation on the host

helicopter pilot A helicopter pilot manipulates the helicopter flight controls to achieve and maintain controlled aerodynamic flight. Changes to the aircraft flight control system transmit mechanically to the rotor, producing aerodynamic effects on the rotor bla ...

Lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

Lau, revealed multiple incidents of corruption and security breaches associated with the 601 Brigade of the , 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 The Republic of China Armed Forces (ROC Armed Forces) are the armed forces of the Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC), Republic of China (1912–1949), once based in mainland China and currently in its Free area of the Republic of China, remainin ...

history. On 3 October 2018, MP

Freddy Lim Freddy Lim Tshiong-tso (; Tâi-lô: ''Lîm Tshióng-tsò''; born 1 February 1976) is a Taiwanese politician, musician, and independence activist. He is the lead vocalist of the Taiwanese heavy-metal band Chthonic. and the lead vocalist of the ...

, former Director of the Amnesty International Taiwan, inquired in a hearing session of the Foreign and National Defense Committee in the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...

for re-investigation on the

Lieyu massacre The 1987 Lieyu massacre occurred on 7 March 1987, at Donggang Bay, Lieyu, Fujian, Lieyu Island ("Lesser Kinmen" or "Little Quemoy"), Kinmen, Fujian Province, Republic of China, Fujian, Republic of China. ROC military officially den ...

files in the military archive to render an apology to the victims' families through the Vietnamese Representative Office, but Minister Yen disagreed, claiming that troops followed the "

SOP A sop is a piece of bread or toast that is drenched in liquid and then eaten. In medieval cuisine, sops were very common; they were served with broth, soup, or wine and then picked apart into smaller pieces to soak in the liquid. At elaborate ...

" of the

Martial Law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

to execute the orders, and had been

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

ed. 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yen, Teh-fa 1952 births Living people Republic of China Army generals Taiwanese Ministers of National Defense