Chinatrust Financial Holding Co’s (中信金控) chief economic adviser Christina Liu (劉憶如) informed reporters late on Friday that she had been appointed to succeed Tsai Hsun-hsiung (蔡勳雄) as head of the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD).
Liu, daughter of former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) minister of finance Guo Woan-rong (郭婉容), called reporters in person, saying she had obtained the approval of Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) to make the calls.
Approached by reporters yesterday, Wu refused to confirm the news.
After serving two terms as a legislator-at-large for the People First Party, Liu worked at Daiwa Securities and then Chinatrust Financial Holding Co.
With a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago, Liu has been a professor at the City University of New York, University of Chicago, Australian National University, Beijing Tsing Hua University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and National Taiwan University.
Wu said he would unveil new Cabinet officials, mostly in economics-related ministries, all at once before Wednesday, ahead of the second anniversary of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) inauguration on Thursday.
Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德), one of the officials believed likely to lose his position, was tight-lipped yesterday when asked for comment.
Speaking to reporters, Liu said she was keen to help the government make the next decade a “golden age” for Taiwan, a pledge made by Ma when pushing to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
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