Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday said he was sorry that Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Chang Juu-en (張祖恩) is leaving the Cabinet and praised Chang's contribution.
"I love having him here and I was hoping to keep him on the team. However, I must respect his decision although I have tried to persuade him not to resign," Hsieh said.
"As for the candidate who will take over his position, I will make a decision on that as soon as possible and announce it to the public," he said.
Chang filed his resignation late on Wednesday afternoon. Due to career considerations and family members' expectations, Chang said he decided to return to his previous post as an environmental engineering professor at National Cheng Kung University.
Chang took the agency's helm in October 2003, when former head Hau Lung-bin (
In April 2001, Hau invited Chang to serve as his deputy. According to the law, the maximum term for a professor to be temporarily transferred to the government is four years. Chang thus resigned from the EPA to return to his previous position at the university.
"I understand that university post is `a hot spot' for people in the field. Chang has a chance to do it, so it is natural for him to take that opportunity while he can. As a result, although I really like his work, I still have to let him go," the premier said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
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