Straits Exchange Foundation Vice Chairman Shi Hwei-yow (許惠祐) yesterday accepted an offer to take charge of the Coast Guard Administration, the Cabinet said yesterday.
The 52-year-old Shi was appointed to his present position in 1998. He served as vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council between 1996 and 1997 and worked in the secretariat of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) from 1997 to 1998.
Other Cabinet appointments finalized yesterday include Shih Shou-chian (
Incoming Cabinet Spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) will also double up as minister without portfolio in charge of reviewing health bills and related projects. Chen, 40, obtained his master's degree from Taipei Medical College and has worked as a doctor at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital.
While Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (
"While the premier hopes to see Tsai, who is an outstanding female administrative officer, stay in the government and continue to serve the country, he will fully respect any decision made by the president because appointing the heads of cross-strait organizations, national defense agencies and diplomats is the duty of the president," Lin said.
Speculation is rife that Lin Bih-jaw (林碧炤), professor of international relations at National Chengchi University, will succeed Tsai if Chen Shui-bian and Yu are unable to persuade Tsai to stay.
With the premier scheduled to lead the Cabinet next Wednesday in a resignation en masse, as required, Lin Chia-lung said Yu hoped to finalize the new Cabinet line-up by the end of this week.
And while Chen Shui-bian will hand-pick the new defense minister and head of the Mainland Affairs Council, Lin Chia-lung said that Yu was still looking for a new head for the National Youth Commission and two more ministers without portfolio.
Chen Shui-bian has pledged that the new head of the National Youth Commission will be "the youngest person in the Cabinet," and preferably a woman under 35.
Lin Chia-lung said the premier had some candidates in mind but had not yet reached a decision.
There are seven ministers without portfolio in charge of reviewing bills across seven different fields. The other two positions relate to finance and the economy, culture, education and welfare.
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of
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