Kaohsiung Mayor and premier-designate Frank Hsieh (
"We have many ideas in common. Chen is also a Kaohsiung native, so I have nominated him to fill the post that I will leave vacant," Hsieh said.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Hsieh yesterday appointed Albert Lin (林耀文), the director-general of the Kaohsiung City Government's department of information, as special assistant to the premier.
Hsieh said he was communicating with President Chen Shui-bian (
The president departs today on the five-day trip to Palau and the Solomon Islands.
Speaking on his appointment as acting mayor for the southern special municipality, Chen Chi-mai told reporters that "stability, negotiation and progress" were the three principles with which he would run Kaohsiung. His appointment is widely seen as confirmation that he will be the Democratic Progressive Party's candidate for Kaohsiung mayor next year.
The new Cabinet will take office on Tuesday.
Hsieh said "the Cabinet line-up will be finalized in two days," adding that he will be in contact with the president during his trip, and that "it is alright" if the president announces the vice premier during this time.
"Changes to the Cabinet will be small," Hsieh said. "The real reshuffling of the Cabinet may take place six months from now."
"Minor adjustments to the Cabinet will leave some room for reconciliation between the government and the opposition alliance," he said.
Hsieh said that delaying substantial change was justified because some members of the Cabinet had joined only recently. In addition, other members of Cabinet needed time to decide if they will be running in the mayoral and county commissioner elections at the end of the year, he said.
Hsieh said May was a good month to make these changes.
Asked about the identity of the next vice premier, Hsieh said he or she would not necessarily be from a financial or economics background.
"Because [Premier] Yu Shyi-kun's Cabinet has done well improving the economic situation, the new Cabinet will focus more on negotiations and dialogue with the opposition and China," he added.
Reports suggest that Chen Chi-mai's replacement might be the only significant new appointment to the new Cabinet.
Chinese-language newspapers have speculated that Vice Minister of Justice Morley Shih (
Shih would replace Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (
Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyuan (
Also see story:
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting
RSS