Premier-designate Tang Fei (
Economist Lo Fu-chuan (
With the Cabinet-building now completed, President-elect Chen Shui-bian (
Chen, Tang and the new Cabinet will take office on May 20.
Chen Po-chih was yesterday reported as having agreed to the nomination as chairman of the CEPD, which acts as an official think tank to advise the government on economic planning, and a coordinator between different ministries in promoting crucial cross-agency policies.
The completed financial and economic team includes Lin Chuan (
The incoming CEPD head is believed to have had a close relationship with both outgoing President Lee Teng-hui (
He has also been a principle architect of the so-called "no haste, be patient (
He told reporters yesterday, however, that there was a need to review and rectify the policy due to the government's efforts to enter the WTO. But he insisted that the policy should not be abolished.
In related news, Schive Chi (
Hsia, the incumbent head of the AEC's research institute on nuclear energy, is to become the AEC's chairman, an appointment confirmed by government spokesman-designate Chung Ching (
According to Chung, Hsia received a PhD in nuclear engineering from MIT and has worked for the AEC for more than 10 years.
Another important appointment in the foreign relations field is also reportedly about to be confirmed.
Lo, an academic at the UN University in Japan, is likely to take over for Chuang Ming-yao (莊銘耀), secretary general-designate of National Security Council, as representative to Japan.
DPP lawmaker Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) was quoted as saying yesterday that Lo has served in the UN to resolve economic issues in developing Asian countries and is therefore familiar in political circles in many Asian countries.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia