Taoyuan County Commissioner Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) rise to vice premier is the latest step up the career ladder for the popular Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman.
Few were surprised on Monday when Chu was named the new vice premier.
“It was only a matter of when,” said Taoyuan County Council Speaker Tseng Chung-yi (曾忠義), who said he thought Chu would be able to make his expertise felt in the Cabinet because of his strong educational background and rich experience in both the legislative and administrative arenas.
PHOTO: CHEN WEN-CHENG, TAIPEI TIMES
Chu, 48, was an accounting professor at National Taiwan University before he entered politics as a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator in 1999. He often received higher approval ratings than his KMT legislative counterparts, something that was attributed to his business and finance skills.
Chu is also well connected: He is the son-in-law of former KMT legislator and Twinhead International Corp (倫飛電腦) chairman Kao Yu-jen (高育仁).
Chu’s political career began to gain steam when he was recruited by the KMT leadership in 2001 to run for county chief in Taoyuan after the Democratic Progressive Party had taken over what had long been a KMT stronghold.
To the KMT’s relief, Chu won the Taoyuan election by 11 percentage points and was re-elected in 2005 by nearly double that margin.
Since 2003, Chu has been part of an “iron triangle” called “Ma-Li-Chiang” that referred to the party’s biggest vote getters — then Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Chu, and Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強). “Li” and “Chiang” refer to characters in Chu and Hu’s names.
Chu has been selected many times in opinion polls as one of the three most-favored local government leaders in the country and one of the most popular leaders in KMT-controlled areas.
He has made strenuous efforts to solicit businesses to relocate their operations to Taoyuan and expand education and tourism development.
Under the leadership of Chu, Taoyuan County has ranked as the No. 1 administrative district in the country in terms of annual tax revenue contributions over the past several years.
In anticipation of warming cross-strait relations and increased cross-strait exchanges, he has recently pushed to develop a Taoyuan Aviation City, with the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport as its center.
Taoyuan’s population has continuously grown under Chu’s administration and is expected to top 2 million next year, moving the county one step closer to its target of being upgraded to a metropolitan city.
In March, Chu was one of three local government heads named by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) think tank as a recipient of its prestigious annual Founders Awards for efforts in digital and technology development. The forum studies the impact of technology on 21st century communities.
The two other award recipients were Dave Carter, head of the Manchester Digital Development Agency of the UK, and Andrew Spano, county executive for Westchester County, New York.
Chu offered an apology on Monday to residents of Taoyuan for leaving office before his term finishes at the end of the year.
“I couldn’t turn down the appointment or make other decision as the country needs me at a time when it is facing the most trying challenge it has ever seen,” Chu said at a news conference after accepting his appointment.
He also expressed his appreciation to his constituents for their support over the past eight years.
Chu said his feelings were mixed when he was approached by Ma two days earlier to help the KMT government in the wake of Typhoon Morakot, which battered southern Taiwan and undermined confidence in the KMT.
Chu’s popularity will be in for a test as some political observers say that Chu and premier-designate Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) will face more serious challenges than they might anticipate, including a struggling economy, record-high unemployment and government efforts to improve its image in the wake of Typhoon Morakot.
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to 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), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition