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
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address
RSS