Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Ma Yung-cheng (
According to a press release issued by the Presidential Office last night, President Chen Shui-bian (
"I've been thankful for [President Chen's] appreciation of my abilities for the past 15 years. Although I've been doing my work cautiously, the heavy duty has become a burden too heavy to carry," Ma said in his resignation letter.
Ma said that after the president stated his ideals and the urge to reform his organization, he realized that resigning from his post would be the best thing he could do.
Lin echoed Ma's remarks, and said that he offered his resignation in order to conform with Chen's reform pledge.
Chen announced on Wednesday night that he would delegate his party responsibilities to the premier and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials, and focus solely on doing his job as the president. He also pledged to reorganize the power structure of his administration.
Both Ma and Lin are close aides to Chen who have been assisting the president for years. Ma began working with the president in 1991 while Chen was still a legislator. Later, when Chen became Taipei mayor, Ma became Chen's right-hand man, serving as a coordinator, mediator and policy strategist. Lin was in charge of writing Chen's speeches as president, prior to becoming the National Security Council senior adviser in 2004.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union caucus and major factions within the DPP last night expressed their respect for and support of the president's decision.
"The president's approval of Ma's and Lin's resignations showed his reformative resolve," DPP Legislator William Lai (賴清德) said.
The People First Party caucus, on the other hand, described Chen's decision as a maneuver to protect himself.
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
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‘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)