Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Joseph Wu (
The appointment comes after President Chen Shui-bian (
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Tai-san (
Wu told reporters after meeting with Yu yesterday afternoon that he will exert himself in his new job based on the foundation laid down by Tsai.
"I'll also do my best to communicate with lawmakers and to develop a sound relationship with the media," he said.
The meeting between Wu and the premier came one day after Chen asked Wu about his interest in the job.
Wu, 50, was appointed to his job at the Presidential Office in 2002.
He is a former teacher and research assistant in the political science department of Ohio State University. He also served as the deputy director of the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University, where colleagues said he wrote papers critical of Beijing.
Analysts said Wu's assignment, coming after Chen appointed former independence activist Mark Chen (陳唐山) as foreign minister, would send a strong message to China on Taiwan's sovereignty.
"With Mark Chen in the foreign ministry and Joseph Wu in the Mainland Affairs Council, this combination sends a very powerful message to the world," said Su Chi (蘇起), who was chairman of the MAC under the former KMT administration.
"Both are diehard pro-independence individuals," said Su, a close aide to KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
According to outgoing Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (
"She told the premier that she'd like to take care of her sick mother and have more time to herself for reading and traveling," Lin said. "She also discussed cross-strait policies with the premier but she didn't recommend any candidate as her successor."
While Lin said Chiu's appointment has not been finalized, Wu told reporters yesterday afternoon that Chiu has accepted the position.
During a meeting with Yu on April 29, Chiu was promised a No. 2 position at either the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Mainland Affairs Council or the proposed Financial Supervisory Board.
Chiu, 48, was elected to the legislature in 1999 and is a former member of the National Assembly. He practiced law after obtaining a master's degree from National Taiwan University.
Lin yesterday dismissed speculation that Fan Yun (范雲), an assistant researcher at Academia Sinica's Institute of Sociology, has accepted the premier's offer to head the National Youth Commission.
"It's groundless speculation," Lin said. "The premier didn't contact Fan to discuss the matter, nor did she contact the premier to accept or decline the offer."
Lin said the premier had five candidates in mind but Fan was not one of them.
"It may take a while to find the most suitable person," Lin said.
Chen has pledged that the new head of the National Youth Commission will be "the youngest person in the Cabinet," and preferably a woman under 35.
Progress has not been made in the search for the two vacancies for ministers without portfolio.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)