With the new administration beginning May 20, President-elect Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) Cabinet is almost complete, Vice Premier-designate Yu Shyi-kun confirmed yesterday.
Yu said Tsai Ying-wen (蔡英文) is to become chairperson of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and Shea Jia-dong (許嘉棟) the Minister of Finance.
Yu made the announcement of the lineup of the new Cabinet yesterday and confirmed there were only six posts left to fill: the Department of Health, Environmental Protection Administration, National Youth Commission, Council for Economic Planning and Development, Atomic Energy Council and National Sports Council.
Yu said that the still-vacant Cabinet posts would be filled by the end of the month and be announced by Premier-designate Tang Fei (唐飛), who is currently recuperating from an operation for the removal of a thymus gland cyst.
When pressed by reporters to reveal more details, Yu said: "There is no need to keep guessing, all I can tell you is what has been decided."
Most of the names officially confirmed yesterday had already been tipped for the posts by the media.
Tsai's nomination by the president-elect as the head of the MAC had been leaked 10 days ago, but was not officially confirmed until yesterday.
The reason given for the delay was said to be Tang's hesitancy about the appointment, a source said.
Some media reports said that Tsai was in the ad hoc advisory group that drafted the "special state-to-state" interpretation,of cross-strait relations for President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).
However, another source said there was no such group but only informal gatherings of close aides to Lee, and that the "special state-to-state" model was more of a general concept than an elaborately planned strategy.
Shea is currently deputy governor of the Central Bank of China.
"It was my sense of responsibility for society and the country that made me take the post," said Shea at a news conference last night.
Meanwhile, the newly-confirmed head of the Aboriginal Affairs Commission, Yahani Isagagafat (尤哈尼．伊斯卡卡夫特), an Aboriginal rights activist, said that he was taking the new job because he cared about the welfare of his people. He is currently the chief of general affairs at Yushan College of Theology.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
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The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
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