Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Wang said that both presidential candidates had made suggestions regarding Cabinet plans to streamline the Executive Yuan. He also said the legislature would review the plans immediately once the executive had passed a proposal.
Wang said the Cabinet should refer the draft amendment to the Organic Law of the Executive Yuan (
Earlier this week, the Cabinet postponed approving revisions to streamline the Executive Yuan and cut the number of agencies under it from 39 to 26.
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Based on a 2005 proposal that called for the Executive Yuan to comprise 13 ministries and four councils, the revisions under consideration propose a structure of 14 ministries, seven councils and five independent organizations.
The new measures would add a ministry for veterans affairs and two councils -- a gender equality commission and an oceans commission -- to the 2005 proposal.
The establishment of a ministry of veterans affairs was at the center of heated debate among Executive Yuan ministries and agencies on Wednesday.
Chiou, who supports the idea, said it would not merely be a "transplant" of the existing Veterans Affairs Commission and would play a key role in establishing a voluntary military service in the future.
The revisions will be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for approval after being passed by the Executive Yuan.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to visit the UK during her ongoing European trip, which originally included only Lithuania and Denmark, her office said today. Tsai departed Taiwan for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark, marking her second visit to the continent since her two-term presidency ended in May last year. Her office issued a statement today saying that Tsai would also visit the UK "for a few days," during which she is to meet with UK politicians and Taiwanese professionals, and visit academic and research institutions. Following Tsai's stop in Denmark, she is to visit the