Premier-designate Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) yesterday announced his second wave of Cabinet member appointees, naming current National Central University (NCU) chancellor Lee Lou-chuang (李羅權) as the new National Science Council (NSC) minister.
Liu yesterday also named National Tsinghua University professor of engineering and system science Tsai Chuen-horng (蔡春鴻) as the new Atomic Energy Council (AEC) minister.
Reacting to his appointment, Lee said: “Education and advanced technology are the two most important fields that will provide Taiwan with momentum to go forward.”
“In research as well as in leading a team, you need to gather your resources, set a goal and formulate a plan to achieve that goal — in both [research and leadership], you can [only succeed by] being the first, and I will build Taiwan’s research foundation upon this spirit,” he said.
Lee, an academic inducted into the Academia Sinica for his achievements in space physics, is a well-rounded leader who had propelled NCU into the ranks of elite higher education institutes, NCU vice-chancellor Ip Wing-huen (葉永烜) said.
“In addition to good leadership, Lee’s experience as the former director of the National Applied Research Laboratories [under the NSC], where he grasped technological developmental trends and was open to opinions from all sides, makes him a very good candidate for the [NSC] position,” Ip said.
Other than scientific developments, at NCU Lee had also been keenly developing the humanities fields, an experience that would help with his development of the nation’s social sciences as NSC minister, Ip said.
Addressing emerging global environmental problems, Lee said that “promoting environmental sustainability is the inescapable responsibility of scientists.”
“In the future, I plan to consolidate resources and place more emphasis on research in the fields of the environment as well as clean energies,” he said.
In related news, AEC minister-designate Tsai was described by his colleagues as an accomplished nuclear expert competently fit to lead the council.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
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