Charles Chiang (江昭儀) yesterday said that he has rejected the appointment as Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) vice chairman.
"I have informed the premier, verbally and in writing, of my decision to not take the job," Chiang said in a telephone interview yesterday.
MEDIA INFLUENCE
Chiang, a former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator, accused members from the former New Tide faction -- his own group -- yesterday of sabotaging his nomination by leaking the news to Chinese-language media, which mostly labeled his appointment as a political kickback and questioned his financial expertise.
Media said Chiang was given the new job because he is a close supporter of President Chen Shui-bian (
Although he is a certified accountant in the US, media said Chiang lacked related experience in supervising the domestic financial sector.
He said that Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
"I have decided to stay in my electorate in Changhua and aggressively follow through on reforms to the party's local chapter," he said, adding that his decision to refuse the job had nothing to do with the DPP's defeat in the presidential election.
"I'd made up my mind before Saturday's election," he said.
REVOLVING DOOR
He said that it has been very difficult for the DPP government to fill the position ? a vacancy left by former vice chairman Lu Daung-yen (呂東英) in late 2006, since the revolving door restriction caused many talented candidates from the private sector to shy away from government posts.
The revolving door clause forbids government officials from taking up related positions in private companies within three years after they step down from public office.
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NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong