The Executive Yuan yesterday announced a Cabinet reshuffle, appointing four ministers and confirming rumors circulating ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday that the government was considering a reshuffle to improve policy implementation.
Deputy Minister of Education Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) has been appointed minister of science and technology; former deputy minister of health Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) has been tapped to head the Ministry of Health and Welfare; Yilan County Commissioner Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢) has been appointed council of agriculture minister; and Minister Without Portfolio Lin Mei-chu (林美珠), who is also President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) cousin, has been appointed minister of labor.
Lin Mei-chu’s specialty in law will be a boon for the government following amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), Executive Yuan spokesperson Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Lin Mei-chu is expected to shoulder the responsibility of communicating with the public on the controversial amendments, the Executive Yuan said, adding that she would be retaining her position as minister without portfolio.
Lin Tsung-hsien, 55, comes from a family of farmers and studied at then-National Chiayi Institute of Agriculture, now National Chiayi University, the Executive Yuan said, adding that with such a background, the government hopes Lin Tsung-hsien will be suited to promote the government’s agricultural policies.
Chen Shih-chung promised that the policy of including doctors under the Labor Standards Act would not be changed, saying that “medical services are a part of the service sector.”
Photo: Chiang Chih-hsiung, Taipei Times
He cited drafting the white paper for the Tsai administration’s medical policies as his qualifications for accepting the position.
Regarding a controversy over the government’s plan to lift a ban on food imports from five Japanese prefectures, Chen Shih-chung said Taiwan must connect with the world and should base its decisions on facts.
He rejected the notion that ministers without portfolios have greater power than ministers, saying that the former are tasked with policy instruction, while the latter focus on implementation.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus deputy secretary-general Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said the party would not comment on the appointments until it observes the new ministers.
Implementing reform is not a 100m dash and the Cabinet should focus on communication and building consensus, he said.
Taoyuan Confederation of Trade Unions chairman Mao Chen-fei (毛振飛) said he did not have high expectations for Lin Mei-chu because of her specialty in law.
Screengrab from Taipei Medical University’s Web site
Lin Mei-chu is a foreign name to the labor sector, Mao said, adding that from his experience law experts are cold and rigid.
“Law is not everything,” Mao said, citing the example of former minister of labor Jennifer Wang (王如玄), also a legal expert, who filed a lawsuit against workers protesting the closure of the factory they worked at.
Additional reporting by Cheng Hung-ta and CNA
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS