Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said yesterday that he and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) were studying the possibility of reshuffling the Cabinet. Details will be announced “at an appropriate time” when a decision is made, he said.
“President Ma and I are pondering a [Cabinet reshuffle]. We will explain the matter to the public at the proper time,” he said yesterday after attending the opening ceremony of IT Month at the Taipei World Trade Center.
Liu, however, said the recent resignation of Gordon Chen (陳樹) as chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) had nothing to do with the possible Cabinet reshuffle.
The Government Information Office announced Chen’s resignation in a press release on Friday night, and said Chen had submitted his letter of resignation on Nov. 19 because the FSC’s efforts to combat the financial crisis had received “neither applause nor support.”
The release said the premier had approved Chen’s resignation and tapped Sean Chen, chairman of SinoPac Financial Holdings (永豐金控) and a former vice minister of finance, to take over the post.
Liu yesterday said he had given a lot of thought to Gordon Chen’s resignation last week, and decided to respect his decision and accept his resignation.
It was widely speculated among local media outlets, such as the Chinese-language United Daily News, that Gordon Chen offered his resignation after being pressured by the Presidential Office and the Executive Yuan.
It was also speculated that following Chen’s resignation, the Presidential Office and the Cabinet would replace more Cabinet members with weak performance.
The Presidential Office yesterday denied that it had pressured Gordon Chen to resign, as well as planning to have a small-scale Cabinet reshuffle around the Lunar New Year holidays.
“Do not believe the rumors or spread the rumors ... The government is focused on improving the economy and making people’s lives better,” Presidential Office Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) said yesterday after attending the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) central committee meeting.
Unsatisfied with the country’s economic situation since Ma was inaugurated on May 20, the Democratic Progressive Party has been pressing the president to replace the premier and to revamp the Cabinet.
According to the latest Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) report released earlier this month, Taiwan’s economy posted negative growth of 1.02 percent in the third quarter of this year and is likely to see further negative growth of 1.73 percent in the fourth quarter.
The DGBAS also forecast that the country’s economic growth would probably stand at 1.87 percent for the whole of this year and 2.12 percent for next year.
The latest forecast marks a significant revision compared with the previous outlook, issued in August before the current global financial crisis became obvious. That forcast projected growth of 4.3 percent for this year and 5.08 percent for next year.
Also See: Reshuffle in limbo as Sean Chen steps in
Also See: EDITORIAL: Changing more than Chen
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS