Feng Shih-kuan (; born 25 November 1945) is a Taiwanese politician. He served in the

Republic of China Air Force The Republic of China Air Force ( Chinese, 中華民國空軍), or the ROCAF; known colloquially as the Taiwanese Air Force ( Chinese, 臺灣空軍) by Western or mainland Chinese media, or commonly referred as the National Military Air Force ...

from 1967 to 2006, retiring with the rank of

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

before assuming the post of Minister of National Defense in 2016. Feng stepped down in 2018 and was succeeded by Yen Teh-fa.

Education

Feng completed his education at the Chinese Air Preparatory School of the Ministry of National Defense in 1963. He graduated from the

Republic of China Air Force Academy The Republic of China Air Force Academy (CAFA; ) is the service academy for the air force of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and is located in Gangshan District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. History Mainland China The Republic of China Air Force Acade ...

in 1967. In 1977, he obtained his Flight Safety Officer Class from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 1981, he completed his study from the Armed Forces University in the Chinese Air Command and Staff College in 1981 and in the Chinese War College in 1988.

Non-military career

Feng joined

Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC; zh, c=漢翔航空工業股份有限公司, p=Hànxiáng Hángkōng Gōngyè Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī 漢翔航空工業 or 漢翔航空) is a Taiwanese aerospace company based in Taichung ...

as company chairman on 2 May 2006. He was hired to oversee the completion of upgrades to the AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo, which had been ongoing for seven years and cost NT$7 billion.

Ministry of National Defense

Feng was named Minister of National Defense in April 2016, a month before the

Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; pinyin: ''Cài Yīngwén''; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician and legal scholar who served as the seventh president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2016 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party ...

administration was to take office. For accepting a post in a

Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...

-led government, the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

suspended Feng's membership. Subsequently, Feng withdrew from the Kuomintang.

Cross–Strait relations

Speaking at the Foreign and National Defense Committee of 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 four-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a ...

on 23 May 2016, Feng said that he would not support the

Taiwan independence movement The Taiwan independence movement is a political movement which advocates the formal declaration of an independent and sovereign Taiwanese state, as opposed to Chinese unification or the status quo in Cross-Strait relations. Into the 21st- ...

. At 8:15 a.m. on 1 July, a Hsiung Feng III missile was inadvertently launched from a corvette docked at Zuoying Military Harbor. The strike hit the Taiwanese fishing boat Hsiang Li Sheng, killing the captain and injuring three of his crew. Feng arrived in Kaohsiung to deliver a personal apology to the fisherman's family the next day, but it was rejected.

Zhang Zhijun Zhang Zhijun (; born 1 February 1953) is a Chinese diplomat and politician. From 17 March 2013 to 21 March 2018, he has served as the Minister of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. He is currently the president of the Association f ...

, leader of the

Taiwan Affairs Office The Taiwan Affairs Office is an administrative agency under the State Council of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is responsible for cross-strait relations and sets and implements guidelines and policies related to Taiwan, which is cl ...

, also asked for Taipei to adequately explain the incident, which was placed under investigation.

Later political career

Feng resigned as defense minister on 23 February 2018, and was replaced by Yen Teh-fa. Subsequently, Feng was appointed the founding director of the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, established in May. On 5 August 2019, Yeh took office as minister of the

Veterans Affairs Council The Veterans Affairs Council (VAC; ) is a branch of the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan) with "responsibilities to assist in education assistance, employment assistance, medical care, home care and other general services" for retir ...

, succeeding Chiu Kuo-cheng, who had been named director-general of the National Security Bureau.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feng, Shih-kuan 1945 births Living people Kuomintang politicians in Taiwan National Defense University (Republic of China) alumni People from Huai'an Republic of China Air Force personnel Republic of China politicians from Jiangsu Taiwanese people from Jiangsu Ministers of national defense of Taiwan University of Southern California alumni