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.
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics