Fri, Apr 14, 2000 page1

• Cabinet selection almost finished

  RISING STARS President-elect Chen Shui-bian has been hard at work setting up a working government and yesterday announced nominees for several top ministerial and vice ministerial positions, including finance and education ministers

  • By Stephanie Low, Irene Lin and Brian Hsu / STAFF REPORTERS
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  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 (陳水扁) and Premier-designate Tang Fei (唐飛) yesterday confirmed several more cabinet appointments, included nominees for the posts of finance, education and transport and communications ministers.

  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 (許嘉棟), incumbent deputy governor of the Central Bank of China, has agreed to his appointment as Minister of Finance.

  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 (曾志朗), president of National Yang Ming University (NYMU), was appointed to take over the Ministry of Education. Tzeng, a psychologist, has been a career scholar and was honored by the Academia Sinica in 1994. He became NYMU president in 1999.

  DPP legislator Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) is to take over as Minister of Transportation and Communications. Yeh began her political career in 1990 when she was first elected a legislator.

  Two ministers without portfo-lio were also confirmed, including Wu Rong-ming (吳容明), former deputy governor of Taiwan Province and a key player in James Soong's (宋楚瑜) People First Party.

  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 (陳唐山), meanwhile, yesterday agreed to head the National Science Council. Chen's appointment was seen as a reflection of his many years' experience working for the US Commerce Department.

  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 (楊德智), who is to replace Li Chen-lin (李禎林) as director of the Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen, is the incumbent commander-in-chief of the Combined Service Force, a semi-independent service responsible for logistics affairs and conventional weapons development and production.

  Among the appointments still awaiting confirmation were aerospace specialist Kuo Ching-chiang (郭清江), tipped to head the Atomic Energy Council; Hsieh Chih-wei (謝志偉), a foreign language professor from Soochow University, expected to lead the National Youth Commission; and Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳), deputy commissioner of Taichung County, who is likely to become chairman of the Environmental Protection Administration.

  On the appointments of vice ministerial positions, DPP legislator Tsai Ming-hsien (蔡明憲) is likely to take over as vice minister of national defense. Incumbent Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) will keep his present position.

  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
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