When Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) was elected as the youngest legislator in Taiwan history in 1984 at the age of 27, he had no idea what kind of political mark he would make in the years ahead. Now almost two decades later, he has been made the youngest Minister of the Interior in the nation's history.
The 44-year-old Yu and his family have strong ties to one of the DPP's heavyweight local factions in Kaohsiung County. Yu is also the leader of the DPP's Justice Alliance.
Because of Yu's close relationship to first lady Wu Shu-chen (
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has long promised to appoint Yu to the Cabinet, but politicians and political scientists have expressed doubts about Yu's qualifications.
Newly-appointed Premier Yu Shyi-kun, however, said that he was the one who decided to tap Yu for the ministry post. He emphasized that Yu's experiences in local government and in the Legislative Yuan make him a perfect candidate for the post.
"President Chen wanted to designate him as the deputy secretary-general of the Presidential Office, but I insisted that [Yu] be named the Minister of the Interior," Yu Shyi-kun said.
Yu Cheng-hsien and the first lady were colleagues when they served as legislators 10 years ago. Yu took extra care of the first lady, who was disabled in a car accident. They remained close friends to this day.
In the 2000 presidential election, it was Yu's endorsement of Chen that helped the DPP contender receive the most votes in Kaohsiung County. Rumors about Yu's promotion to different positions have been prevalent ever since Chen took office.
Yu, however, objected to notions that his appointment was linked to his relationship with the first family. He argued that his experiences as a three-term legislator and two-terms as a commissioner are enough for any Cabinet post.
Others agreed.
"Yu's help to Wu was more like a boy scout's initiative, he had no idea at that time that Wu would be the first lady," said DPP lawmaker Chen Chi-mai (
DPP legislator Yu Jan-daw (余政道), Yu Cheng-hsien's younger brother, said his sibling is definitely qualified for the post, but that he should keep a low profile at first.
But Lin Ching-yao (
"He doesn't have a strong oratorical ability, or a good sense of policies and he can't deal with conflicts well," Lin said.
Huang Chih-hua (黃志華), a close aide to both Yu and Yu's mother, however, said that Yu is up to the job.
"He believes that the business of the Ministry of the Interior is an extension of county business and he thinks that he is well qualified. In my opinion, he should change the way he deals with conflicts in the future."
Officials and political scientists, however, expressed doubt over Yu's qualifications.
"Managing local government is totally different from managing national interior affairs. He probably needs time to get used to the central government's functions," said a ministry official.
Liao Da-chi (
"A local commissioner only needs to deal with local council members, but a minister has to deal with the Legislative Yuan, which is much more sophisticated," Liao said. "His second term in the county government didn't produce any remarkable achievements. His sense of policymaking probably needs to be strengthened."
Yu is from one of Kaohsiung County's three main factions, the Black Faction, which was established by his grandfather, Yu Deng-fa (余登發), four decades ago. Yu's older sister, Yu Lin-ya (余玲雅), is the vice chairperson of the Development and Evaluation Commission (研考會). His younger brother, Yu Jane-daw (余政道) and wife, Cheng Kuei-lien (鄭貴蓮), are both newly-elected DPP legislators.
Yu and his mother, Yu Chen Yueh-ying (
"It's not fair to link [his appointment] to the clan's efforts. We have tried very hard to erase that impression," Yu Jane-daw (余政道) said.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
RSS