Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday outlined the qualifications for a new chief of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) after accepting EPA Administrator Hau Lung-pin's (
"I hope to pick a thoughtful, capable and experienced person to replace Administrator Hau to be the head of the Environmental Protection Administration," Yu said while attending the inauguration ceremony of a new highway linking the northeastern county of Ilan to other parts of Taiwan.
Praising Hau as an outstanding leader, Yu said he needed to find an equally qualified person to assume the post left vacant by Hau.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
"The new environmental chief must have contributed to Taiwan's environmental protection drive in the past years and have experience, ideas and the capability to carry out the government's environmental protection policies as well as relevant projects," Yu said.
He added that it therefore would take a few more days for him to make a final decision.
EPA Deputy Administrator Chang Chu-an (張祖恩) was appointed as acting administrator starting tomorrow, Hau's first day away from the job.
But Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chao Yung-ching (趙永清) is viewed by many mediaditsobservers as being the most likely candidate to take over the EPA's top post.
Chao has been active in championing local environmental protection programs for many years. He was also a big advocate of using referendums as a means to form policy -- a area of friction between Hau and his party's agenda.
But Chao denies ever having been contacted by the Presidential Office or the Cabinet on the matter.
Minister without Portfolio Yeh Jiunn-rong (
"The premier shall make his decision in a comprehensive manner. It is hard to say right now whether any of the possible candidates identified by the media or the public have been crossed off the premier's wish list," he said.
"This is not to say that anyone had been surely targeted as the favored person to succeed the EPA administrator," Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
RSS