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 (
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
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