Premier-designate Lin Chuan (林全) yesterday announced the final members of his Cabinet, surprising many with his choice of National Taiwan University law professor Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) to be minister of the interior.
At a news conference at Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters in Taipei, Lin introduced his final five picks — Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) for minister of transportation and communications, Lee Shying-jow (李翔宙) to head the Veterans Affairs Council, Lee Chung-wei (李仲威) to head the Coast Guard Administration (CGA), Hsieh Shou-shing (謝曉星) to be the Atomic Energy Council minister and Yeh.
Yeh, who is in the US on an academic trip, was the only one not to attend the news conference.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Yeh’s appointment came as a surprise, as media outlets had touted several other candidates — including Taipei City Deputy Mayor Charles Lin (林欽榮), Yilan County Deputy Commissioner Wu Tze-cheng (吳澤成), Tainan Deputy Mayor Tseng Shu-cheng (曾旭正) and former Tainan mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) — but not Yeh.
“When thinking about who should serve as minister of the interior, we thought about Yeh at the beginning, but he declined,” Lin Chuan said. “We went on and looked for other candidates, but still came back to Yeh.”
He said Yeh was a suitable choice because he is not only a legal expert who specializes in constitutional issues and the environment, he has also served on a number of government positions and is familiar with administrative reform, sunshine bills, environmental issues and territorial planning.
“I believe that he is more than capable of doing the job well,” Lin Chuan said.
However, he said that he had a hard time convincing Yeh to accept the appointment, he finally succeeded to do so two days ago.
Hochen too was unwilling to accept the position at first.
"I tried to convince him many times but failed, until someone eventually successfully did it," Lin said. "I really admired the person who did it, because I couldn't do it even [Hochen and I] have been friends for a long time."
"But I can't tell you who the person is," Lin added.
Lee Chung-wei’s appointment was also seen as a surprise, as the retired navy deputy commander would be the first CGA director-general to have a career military background. The post has usually been held by someone with a police background.
The CGA must defend Taiwan’s territorial waters, so Lee Chung-wei’s experience would help the agency, Lin Chuan said.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS