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
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
RSS