Premier-designate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday announced more Cabinet appointments, but in an attempt to improve relations with the opposition, the important post of vice premier has been left vacant for the time being.
Hsieh said the vacancy allows the DPP more leverage in forging reconciliation with the pan-blue camp.
Hsieh said he was grateful for outgoing Vice Premier Yeh Chu-lan's (
But because political parties are busy with today's election for legislative and deputy legislative speaker, Hsieh said, the atmosphere is presently not conducive to cross-party reconciliation.
The appointments announced yesterday included Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (
Other appointments include Chang Chun-yen (張俊彥), secretary-general of the Kaohsiung City Government, who will become director-general of the Central Personnel Administration.
Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Lin Yung-chien (
Hsieh is scheduled to take over from Premier Yu Shyi-kun at a Cabinet meeting today. Hsieh will then lead the new Cabinet officials in taking their oaths of office.
Hsieh yesterday praised Lee Ying-yuan's extensive experience and negotiating and communication skills.
This is the second time Lee Ying-yuan has been appointed as the Cabinet's secretary-general. Valued for his negotiation skills, the 52-year-old PhD-holder in health economics from the University of North Carolina was first appointed to the post by Yu in January 2002.
He was in the post for less than a year before stepping down to run as a DPP candidate against Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Lee Ying-yuan was a legislator and Taiwan's deputy representative to the US before taking up the posts of Cabinet secretary-general and DPP secretary-general.
Hsieh yesterday also noted Chang Chun-yen's experience in the civil sector. Chang, who will fill the secretary-general's post vacated by Lee Yi-yang (
He had also been the Tainan City Government's financial affairs chief and a Kaohsiung Bank chairman.
As for Lin Yung-chien, Hsieh said he had been aware of Lin's performance as Kaohsiung deputy mayor in the last few years.
As vice minister of the interior, Hsieh said, Lin would assist the Cabinet in the handling of regional affairs.
Lee Chin-yung replaces Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文隆) as vice chairman of the Public Construction Commission.
Hsieh said that as a lawyer-turned-politician, Lee Chin-yung would be able to professionally supervise the commission's procurement and BOT projects. Cheng will move to Kaohsiung to take up the deputy mayor's post.
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
‘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)
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