Presidential Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who has entered the race for the Demo-cratic Progressive Party's (DPP) vacant chairmanship, yesterday announced he would invite the director-general of the Cabinet's Central Personnel Administra-tion, Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋), to be the party's secretary-general should he (Su) be elected as the party chairman.
Given that Su is the only candidate in the party contending for the chairmanship, he is certain to be elected as new chairman at the election slated to be held on Jan. 30.
Su yesterday said he had already reported to President Chen Shui-bian (
Lee had formerly served as Taipei City councilor, director of the Taipei City Government's Department of Civil Affairs, deputy minister of the Ministry of the Interior and director of the DPP's Information and Culture Department.
In the case known as the "Formosa magazine (蓬島雜誌) incident," Lee, then editor-in-chief of the publication, served prison time with Chen, who was the then director of the magazine, for "political crimes."
Noting Lee's extensive administrative experience in both government and party affairs, Su commended Lee as "a talent well-fitted for the role of the party's secretary-general."
"Although I have not worked with Lee in the past, I have, however, on many occasions and events met him before and I admire his performance in his fields of expertise," Su said, adding that the president also held Lee in high regard.
Lee was the first person to report to Chen after he failed in his re-election bid in the 1998 Taipei Mayoral election and was also one of those who helped Chen set up his campaign office for his 2000 presidential election bid, Su said. He added that Lee, having experience working with Chen for many years, is well-trusted by the president.
Lee yesterday confirmed he had accepted Su's invitation to be the DPP's secretary-general.
Noting that he had long been involved in politics, Lee said he would assist Su in developing the DPP once he assumed his new position in the party.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.