Premier Yu Shyi-kun has said he planned to resign after the March 20 presidential election to spend more time with his family, local newspapers said yesterday.
"After President Chen Shui-bian's (
Yu, 55, had offered to resign last year after 100,000 farmers demonstrated in Taipei against government plans to reform agricultural credit cooperatives, but Chen asked him to stay.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
The former rice farmer is Chen's third head of government in four years, but is seen as lacking political savvy and has come under pressure to take responsibility for a flagging economy during Chen's tenure.
Chen's first premier, Tang Fei (
At a campaign rally last night at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to mark International Women's Day, which falls today, Chen disclosed for the first time that he would be looking for a female premier if he is re-elected.
"One day Taiwan will have a female president and I also believe that we will have a female premier in the future. People may not notice this issue, but I have already started considering the appropriate candidates for a female premier," Chen said.
He didn't specify any possible candidates.
Chen promised to allow more women to take up ministerial posts in the Cabinet if he is elected. The Democratic Progressive Party's campaign platform includes increasing the number of women in government to 40 percent.
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
’DISTORTION’: Beijing’s assertion that the US agreed with its position on Taiwan is a recurring tactic it uses to falsely reinforce its sovereignty claims, MOFA said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said Chinese state media deliberately distorted Taiwan’s sovereign status, following reports that US President Donald Trump agreed to uphold the “one China” policy in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). During the more than one-hour-long call, Xi urged Trump to retreat from trade measures that roiled the global economy and cautioned him against threatening steps on Taiwan, a Chinese government summary of the call said. China’s official Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying that the US should handle the Taiwan issue cautiously and avoid the two countries being drawn into dangerous
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