Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) President Wu Rong-i (
"I am quite confident that I will take advantage of my expertise in economic issues to provide my professional analysis, study and advice to help Premier Frank Hsieh," Wu said during a press conference at the Cabinet yesterday morning.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
After Hsieh became premier on Jan. 25, he lobbied to have KMT lawmaker Chiang Pin-kun (江丙坤), who is also vice chairman of the party and former chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, to become vice premier. However, KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) never gave his blessing to the appointment, and so Chiang did not give Hsieh an answer to his offer.
Hsieh said that he had considered Wu as a second choice for the spot, because his priority had been to try to get a member of the opposition camp to join the Cabinet.
"While I first spoke with Wu, I explained clearly to him that my priority was Chiang due to political concerns, and he understood and supported me for this arrangement," Hsieh said. "For that, I appreciate his understanding and would like to apologize to him for keeping him waiting and making him my second choice."
At the press conference, Hsieh said that he had opened the door to Chiang to join the Cabinet, but that he could not keep his team and the public waiting indefinitely.
Wu is a well-known supporter of former president Lee Teng-hui's (
Asked whether he will continue to urge local enterprises not to invest in or move their facilities to China, Wu said that he will merely provide his professional advice to his superiors.
Opposition parties were negative in their reaction to the news of Wu's appointment yesterday.
"Currently, I can't see how this appointment will have any effect on improving Taiwan's economy, because Wu Rong-i is conservative in his policy about investing in China," People First Party (PFP) legislative whip Liu Wen-hsiung (
"The KMT respects the wishes of the DPP and the premier," said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus whip Huang Teh-fu (黃德福) yesterday. "What we care about the most is whether they will nominate capable individuals. But from past examples, we can see that even if talented individuals enter the Chen Shui-bian administration, under a such a willful leadership, those individuals will burn out."
Leaders of business groups, who have been urging that someone with a business background be named as vice premier, yesterday welcomed Wu's appointment, but also expressed regret that Chiang had not taken up the post.
"Wu is an appropriate pick for the position, considering his sophisticated management ability and insights into macroeconomic and industrial policies," Theodore Huang (
Although Wu has less political experience than Chiang, as president of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (
Wu possesses a doctoral degree in economics from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. He has been president of TIER since 1994. Prior to that post, he was an economics professor and director at National Chung Hsing University. Wu has also been a senior economic advisor to different government offices, including the Presidential Office, the Cabinet and the Ministry of Finance.
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
Taiwan is hosting the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) for the first time, welcoming more than 400 young linguists from 43 nations to National Taiwan University (NTU). Deputy Minister of Education Chu Chun-chang (朱俊彰) said at the opening ceremony yesterday that language passes down knowledge and culture, and influences the way humankind thinks and understands the world. Taiwan is a multicultural and multilingual nation, with Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka, 16 indigenous languages and Taiwan Sign Language all used, Chu said. In addition, Taiwan promotes multilingual education, emphasizes the cultural significance of languages and supports the international mother language movement, he said. Taiwan has long participated
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
RSS