Incoming premier Yu Shyi-kun appointed several familiar faces to his Cabinet lineup yesterday, among them popular Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (
Other returning players include Chen Chu (
Also staying in their posts are Wang Chun (
Yu yesterday named former Kaohsiung County commissioner Yu Cheng-hsien (
Former Hsinchu County commissioner Fan Chen-tsung (
Yu is expected to announce 12 more appointments today, including the minister of eduction and the head of the Council for Cultural Affairs.
The appointments will conclude tomorrow with the appointments for the Ministries of Transportation and Communications, Finance and Economic Affairs.
Speculation was rife that Tchen Yu-chiou (陳郁秀) would hang on to her job as chairwoman of the Council for Cultural Affairs.
Huang Jung-tsun (黃榮村), currently a minister without portfolio, is the leading candidate to replace Ovid Tzeng (曾志朗) as minister of education.
Yu is still searching for a minister of economic affairs after Christine Tsung (
Lin Lin-san (林陵三), vice minister of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, might be promoted and given the reins of that agency.
Addressing reporters at the Presidential Office, Yu said that the new Cabinet members appointed yesterday had two characteristics in common: professionalism and extensive political experience.
"It looks as if we have an `ex-county commissioner club' here," Yu said. "Don't belittle them. Each and every one of them has solid public support behind them and possesses extensive political experience as a local government chief."
Yu noted that four of the appointments unveiled yesterday are former local government heads. Yu Cheng-hsien is a two-term Kaohsiung county commissioner; Chen Ding-nan served two terms as Ilan County commissioner; Fan Chen-tsung served two terms as Hsinchu County commissioner; and Chen Chien-nien is also two-term Taitung County commissioner.
Yu yesterday again dismissed talk that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had chosen Cabinet members on his behalf. "None of the officials appointed today had been received nor contacted by the President before taking the job," the incoming premier said.
But Chen Chien-nien let slip that he had met with the president on Jan. 16 to talk about the position of chairman of the Council of Aboriginal Affairs.
The KMT's Chen said yesterday he was willing to accept any punishment given him by his party, which has refused to allow members to serve in the DPP government.
"For the sake of indigenous people and the entire nation, I've decided to put national interests before politics," Chen said.
Yu also dismissed the chance of the premier concurrently holding the DPP chairmanship, an idea current DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) proposed on Monday.
"It's never crossed my mind and I've never planned to do so," he said.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
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