Executive Yuan Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said yesterday that the Cabinet was not aware of ny reshuffle after a newspaper report said the president was in favor of a small-scale reshuffle.
A report in yesterday’s Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) said Ou Chin-der (歐晉德), the executive director of Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC), and Minister Without Portfolio Tsai Hsun-hsiung (蔡勳雄) were possible candidates to replace Hsueh Hsiang-chuan (薛香川), secretary-general of the Executive Yuan.
Jennifer Wang (王如玄), the chairwoman of the Council of Labor Affairs, and Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) were also to be replaced, it said.
Asked about the report, Su declined to comment, except to say: “The Executive Yuan is not aware of any plans for change.”
Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) also refused to comment when approached during an inspection trip to a traffic control center.
Ou dismissed the report that said he would replace Hsueh as a “rumor” and said the most important thing for him was to focus on his job at THSRC, as the high-speed railway is vital to Taiwan.
“It is purely speculation,” Ou said. “I thank people for their love and support, but I just want to do my job well at this stage of my life.”
THSRC spokesperson Ted Chia (賈先德) also denied that Ou would be leaving the company.
“I believe he [Ou] made it very clear before that there are many things that you can do for your country. The high-speed rail is a very important national infrastructure. At present he has no plans to work anywhere else,” Chia said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) called on the government to replace Wang, saying that she “was not an expert at resolving unemployment.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHELLEY SHAN
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS