The Presidential Office yesterday dismissed media reports that the head of the semi-official Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Lin Hsin-yi (林信義), will replace Premier Yu Shyi-kun in the pending Cabinet reshuffle.
The Department of Public Affairs at the Presidential Office delivered the statement via text message to reporters. It stated that President Chen Shui-bian (
A local newspaper yesterday reported that Chen had chosen a new premier. The story said Yu would step down and be replaced by Lin.
The departmental statement asked that "wild speculation" over the matter cease.
Lin served as Yu's vice premier in the last Cabinet, and assumed the ITRI chairman's post in October.
Noted for expertise in economic affairs and hands-on experience in the private sector, Lin previously served as minister of economic affairs and chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development.
Lin is currently serving as convenor of the president's eight-member economic advisory panel.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) yesterday questioned the merit of Lin's contributions in office, arguing that it was on his watch as economics minister that Taiwan's economy "began to decline."
KMT spokesman Chang Jung-kung (
Regarding speculation that he might succeed Chen, Yu yesterday said the move was not part of his career plan.
"Such a thought has never crossed my mind, nor have I made any plans to get the position," he said. "Before I lead the Executive Yuan in resigning in January, I'll continue in my post because the operations of the state cannot afford to stop for a single day."
Yu was speaking yesterday morning after attending the launch of a wind-power plant in Shihmen, Taipei County.
When asked for his thoughts on former vice premier Lin Hsin-i (
"That's the constitutional duty of the president, and I believe all 23 million people of Taiwan will respect the final choice of the president," he said.
If he were to step down, Yu said he would not be upset because it was natural to bow out of the political arena.
He also said his meeting with Chen did not touch on such sensitive issues.
Chen also met yesterday with Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods