Denying rumors of a rift, Presidential Office secretary-general-designate Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) and deputy secretary-general-designate Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) yesterday vowed to stand by president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) when he takes over the reins of government on May 20.
Ma announced late on Friday night the appointment of Chan and Yeh after his top aide Steve Chan (詹啟賢), rumored to be a leading candidate for the post of secretary-general, declared that he would not join Ma’s administration on Thursday, sparking concerns over infighting in the Ma camp and the president-elect’s ability to handle personnel issues.
Yeh, a former Taipei deputy mayor, received Ma’s call on Thursday night soon after Steve Chan’s announcement, while Chan Chun-po, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman and Ma’s campaign director, received Ma’s call yesterday morning.
Chan Chun-po, who met Yeh yesterday morning at KMT headquarters to discuss the transfer of power and their future responsibilities, denied rumors of internal conflict in the Ma camp.
“Some of the campaign team members do hold different views, but as a campaign director, I think I did a good job negotiating duties and coordinating their roles,” Chan Chun-po said.
Chan Chun-po, who also serves as convener of the power transfer team, said his priority now was to prepare for the power transfer and presidential inauguration next month.
A 67-year-old ethnic Taiwanese who had served as Ma’s campaign director since Ma first ran for Taipei mayor in 1998, Chan Chun-po is a familiar figure to KMT grassroots supporters and local cliques.
Yeh, 58, is a school friend of Ma from Taipei Jianguo High School and won recognition during the SARS outbreak in Taipei in 2003 with his expertise on health matters.
Yeh joined the KMT primary for the Taipei mayoral election in 2006, but later withdrew from the race after failing to receive Ma’s endorsement. He went on to teach public health at Tzu Chi University in Hualien.
Aside from Chan and Yeh, Ma has only two other confirmed Cabinet members — premier-designate Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) and Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤).
KMT caucus acting secretary-general Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) yesterday urged Ma and Liu to release the full Cabinet lineup as soon as possible to stabilize the political situation and stop further speculation on the issue.
“The guessing game about the Cabinet lineup will not stop if they don’t announce the list. The caucus is hoping to meet with new Cabinet members as soon as possible,” he said.
Luo Chih-chiang (羅智強), spokesman for Ma, said yesterday that Liu would announce the Cabinet lineup tomorrow at the earliest.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
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