The man in line to become the nation's next premier was busy receiving possible new Cabinet members yesterday at his official residence in downtown Taipei.
Yu Shyi-kun, currently the secretary-general to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), may announce the new Cabinet lineup this afternoon.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
According to sources at the Presidential Office, the new Cabinet members could be sworn in on Wednesday.
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Seen entering Yu's residence yesterday were Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), Cabinet secretary-general; Su Tzen-ping (蘇正平), head of the Government Information Office; Chen Che-nan (陳哲男), deputy secretary-general to the president; and Chang Fu-mei (張富美), chairwoman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission.
According to sources, President Chen has already decided who will head the Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Mainland Affairs Council. The president will let the new premier appoint the other members of the new "combative Cabinet," they said.
Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is expected to retain her post as chairwoman of the Mainland Affairs Council. Chief of the General Staff Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明) is expected to be promoted to defense minister.
Eugene Chien (
Sources say Vice Premier Lai In-jaw (賴英照) is likely to step down from his post. The vacancy may be filled by a non-DPP member with a strong financial background.
Lai, who served on the Council of Grand Justices before taking up his current position, might return to his previous job.
Chiou also may step down and be appointed as a minister without portfolio.
Other Cabinet officials who might step down include Chang Po-ya (
Those likely to hang onto their jobs include Chen Ding-nan (
Yen and Tang are two of the five KMT members who hold positions in the current Cabinet.
Premier Chang remained low key yesterday over the impending Cabinet reshuffle. "I totally respect the decision made by President Chen," Chang said yesterday on an environmental inspection trip conducted in his hometown of Kaohsiung.
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
ENHANCED SECURITY: A Japanese report said that the MOU is about the sharing of information on foreign nationals entering Japan from Taiwan in the event of an emergency The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that Taiwan and Japan had signed an agreement to promote information exchanges and cooperation on border management, although it did not disclose more details on the pact. Ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said the ministry is happy to see that the two nations continue to enhance cooperation on immigration control, in particular because Taiwan and Japan “share a deep friendship and frequent people-to-people exchanges.” “Last year, more than 7.32 million visits were made between the two countries, making it even more crucial for both sides to work closer on immigration and border control,” he said. Hsiao
RSS