Taoyuan County Commissioner Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) rise to vice premier is the latest step up the career ladder for the popular Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman.
Few were surprised on Monday when Chu was named the new vice premier.
“It was only a matter of when,” said Taoyuan County Council Speaker Tseng Chung-yi (曾忠義), who said he thought Chu would be able to make his expertise felt in the Cabinet because of his strong educational background and rich experience in both the legislative and administrative arenas.
PHOTO: CHEN WEN-CHENG, TAIPEI TIMES
Chu, 48, was an accounting professor at National Taiwan University before he entered politics as a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator in 1999. He often received higher approval ratings than his KMT legislative counterparts, something that was attributed to his business and finance skills.
Chu is also well connected: He is the son-in-law of former KMT legislator and Twinhead International Corp (倫飛電腦) chairman Kao Yu-jen (高育仁).
Chu’s political career began to gain steam when he was recruited by the KMT leadership in 2001 to run for county chief in Taoyuan after the Democratic Progressive Party had taken over what had long been a KMT stronghold.
To the KMT’s relief, Chu won the Taoyuan election by 11 percentage points and was re-elected in 2005 by nearly double that margin.
Since 2003, Chu has been part of an “iron triangle” called “Ma-Li-Chiang” that referred to the party’s biggest vote getters — then Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Chu, and Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強). “Li” and “Chiang” refer to characters in Chu and Hu’s names.
Chu has been selected many times in opinion polls as one of the three most-favored local government leaders in the country and one of the most popular leaders in KMT-controlled areas.
He has made strenuous efforts to solicit businesses to relocate their operations to Taoyuan and expand education and tourism development.
Under the leadership of Chu, Taoyuan County has ranked as the No. 1 administrative district in the country in terms of annual tax revenue contributions over the past several years.
In anticipation of warming cross-strait relations and increased cross-strait exchanges, he has recently pushed to develop a Taoyuan Aviation City, with the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport as its center.
Taoyuan’s population has continuously grown under Chu’s administration and is expected to top 2 million next year, moving the county one step closer to its target of being upgraded to a metropolitan city.
In March, Chu was one of three local government heads named by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) think tank as a recipient of its prestigious annual Founders Awards for efforts in digital and technology development. The forum studies the impact of technology on 21st century communities.
The two other award recipients were Dave Carter, head of the Manchester Digital Development Agency of the UK, and Andrew Spano, county executive for Westchester County, New York.
Chu offered an apology on Monday to residents of Taoyuan for leaving office before his term finishes at the end of the year.
“I couldn’t turn down the appointment or make other decision as the country needs me at a time when it is facing the most trying challenge it has ever seen,” Chu said at a news conference after accepting his appointment.
He also expressed his appreciation to his constituents for their support over the past eight years.
Chu said his feelings were mixed when he was approached by Ma two days earlier to help the KMT government in the wake of Typhoon Morakot, which battered southern Taiwan and undermined confidence in the KMT.
Chu’s popularity will be in for a test as some political observers say that Chu and premier-designate Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) will face more serious challenges than they might anticipate, including a struggling economy, record-high unemployment and government efforts to improve its image in the wake of Typhoon Morakot.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost