TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — National Security Bureau (NSB) Director Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) will retain his position, along with NSB deputy directors Ko Cheng-heng (柯承亨) and Chang Yuan-pin (張元斌).

Tsai, Ko, and Chang were ordered to remain in their postings by presidential decree on Monday (May 20), Liberty Times reported. The NSB director is a special appointment or a general officer, with three deputy directors under them. 

Deputy Director Hsu Hsi-hsiang (徐錫祥) was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice.

Tsai previously served as deputy foreign minister and was appointed director by former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in a government reshuffle in January 2023. 

Earlier this month, Tsai warned of possible Chinese gray zone sabotage on Taiwan’s infrastructure. He said the Taiwan-Matsu submarine cable has been severed around 20 times within the past few years, which was highly unusual. 

However, further analysis of Chinese fishing vessel routes must be conducted to determine whether these incidents were deliberate. 

Ko has decades of experience in national security and defense within the Democratic Progressive Party. He drafted the National Defense White Paper during former President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) first presidential campaign in 2000 and later served as an advisor and National Security Council deputy secretary-general, as well as the Ministry of National Defense’s deputy minister for military affairs.

He returned to public service under the Tsai administration in 2016 and was appointed NSB deputy director in 2018.