In a near-completion of what has proved no easy task in building the skeleton of the new DPP-led government, President-elect Chen Shui-bian (
At the same time, Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) announced that the ad hoc National Policy Advisory Committee he headed -- which held its third meeting yesterday -- had decided to disband, having completed its task in assisting Chen in building a new government.
Among those confirmed yesterday, Shea Jia-dong (
Trained as an economist, the 52-year-old Shea has worked as a research fellow at Academia Sinica and taught at National Taiwan University before taking up his present position in 1996.
Ovid J.L. Tzeng (
DPP legislator Yeh Chu-lan (
Two ministers without portfo-lio were also confirmed, including Wu Rong-ming (
Also invited to serve was Huang Jong-tsun (黃榮村), a psychology professor at National Taiwan University and an active education reformist. Previous reports had tipped Huang to be a possible candidate for Minister of Education.
Mayor of Tainan Mark Chen (
The new Coast Guard Administration, meanwhile, will be led by Wang Chun (王郡), the incumbent National Police Administration deputy director.
Wang had previously headed the seventh police peace preservation corps -- the predecessor of the now defunct marine police department -- as well as the Criminal Investigation Bureau and the Kaohsiung City Police Administration.
Army General Yang Teh-chih (
Among the appointments still awaiting confirmation were aerospace specialist Kuo Ching-chiang (
On the appointments of vice ministerial positions, DPP legislator Tsai Ming-hsien (
The difficult decisions over the Cabinet appointments have triggered speculation in the media of disagreement between Chen and Tang Fei. The premier-designate yesterday, however, dismissed the rumors as unfounded.Alos See Mark Chen Inside
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
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Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
The WHO ignored early COVID-19 warnings from Taiwan, US Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on Friday, as part of justification for Washington withdrawing from the global health body. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said that the US was pulling out of the UN agency, as it failed to fulfill its responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO “ignored early COVID warnings from Taiwan in 2019 by pretending Taiwan did not exist, O’Neill wrote on X on Friday, Taiwan time. “It ignored rigorous science and promoted lockdowns.” The US will “continue international coordination on infectious
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