With the imminent hospitalization of Premier-designate Tang Fei, the schedule for the nomination of President-elect Chen Shui-bian's new Cabinet has been moved up.
Yesterday, a flurry of confirmations, refusals and continued speculation kept the media guessing, while providing new surprises in the emerging line-up.
Among those confirmed as having agreed to take up future posts in the first-ever DPP-led central government, veteran DPP lawmaker and former Ilan County Commissioner Chen Ting-nan (
Chang Fu-mei (
The future Cabinet will also see fresh faces in new ministries, such as Tchen Yu-chiou (陳郁秀), a senior National Taiwan Normal University academic, who agreed yesterday to her nomination as head of the future Council for Cultural Affairs.
Former DPP Chairman Yao Chia-wen (
Another favored candidate -- for the post of Atomic Energy Council chairman -- was reported last night as being Kuo Ching-chiang (
One apparently tough choice has been over the post of minister of the interior, considered to be one of the key posts under the premier. Sources said yesterday that Chen and Tang have each offered different choices and that debate continues over who should be appointed.
Tang has pushed for the nomination of James Soong (
Reports surfaced last night that Tang has agreed to give Chang the job.
One apparent disappointment for the new team, however, has been over the minister of finance, after Lin Jong-shong(
Another refusal came yesterday from the secretary-general of the National Security Council, Yin Tsung-wen (
Yin issued a statement on Tuesday that he has no intention of staying on at his position, citing health reasons.
In response, President-elect Chen Shui-bian (
Chen made the response yesterday after he and Vice President-elect Annette Lu (
Later, however, reports emerged stating that Chuang Min-yao (
Chuang is a career naval officer and served as national policy adviser to President Lee Teng-hui (
His position is expected to be filled by current Council for Economic Planning and Development Chairman Chiang Ping-kung (江丙坤), who previously served as the commercial attach? in Japan from 1967-74.
However, Chiang denied the reports yesterday, saying he has no plans to leave Taiwan because of his involvement in 921 earthquake reconstruction.
Speaking at yesterday's NSC briefing, Chen also said he planned to overhaul the country's national security system -- from a shake-up of chief positions to a change in the composition of the council's advisory members.
Chen said the succession of political power is not simply a formality. It was, he said, a direct transfer of policies which had been set in motion by the former government, especially in affairs related to national defense, intelligence, and diplomacy.
Meanwhile, yesterday KMT spokesman Jason Hu (
Hu said he has not been approached by the new government and would nevertheless decline the position.
Responding to the fact that more KMT members are likely to join the new Cabinet following Tang Fei, KMT secretary general Lin Fong-cheng (
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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