President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is considering the choice of a new premier after his proposal to let the legislative majority form a new Cabinet was rejected by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), according to Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信).
Based on the principle of respecting the legislative majority, Ma is to consult with the DPP before announcing a new premier, Chen said.
Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) led his Cabinet members to resign en masse on Monday in the wake of the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections, which saw DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) win 56.12 percent of the vote to win the presidency and her party garner 68 seats in the 113-member legislature.
Mao has insisted on leaving the post, despite Ma’s hope that he would stay on until the president can persuade the DPP to form a new Cabinet. Mao has since taken leave, with his deputy, Simon Chang (張善政), acting on his behalf.
During a meeting with Presidential Office Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) on Saturday, former DPP secretary-general Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀) formally turned down on Tsai’s behalf Ma’s offer for the DPP to form a new Cabinet, Chen said.
The newly elected lawmakers are to be sworn in on Feb. 1, more than three months earlier than Tsai’s inauguration.
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
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
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
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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