Executive Yuan Spokesman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) declined to confirm yesterday whether Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) Minister Tsai Hsun-hsiung (蔡勳雄) has declined Premier Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) offer to serve as chairman of CPC Corp, Taiwan, apparently unhappy with the recent Cabinet reshuffle.
“The premier will make the necessary arrangements for the Cabinet reshuffle and announce the changes when opportune,” Chiang said.
Chiang was responding to a story published by the Chinese-language Commercial Times yesterday that quoted an anonymous source as saying Tsai was sure to leave the government and had declined an offer to take over CPC Corp or serve in any other post.
The report quoted Wu as saying that Tsai had told him he wanted to retire.
Another story by the Chinese-language China Times cited an unidentified source as saying Tsai was upset at the recent Cabinet reshuffle and felt disrespected.
It had been rumored that Tsai was to be appointed vice premier after Eric Chu (朱立倫) indicated earlier this month that he would resign from that post to run for mayor of Sinbei City (the name of Taipei County after it is upgraded to a special municipality later this year) as the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate.
Although Tsai dismissed the rumor, several lawmakers congratulated him during a question-and-answer session at the legislature’s Finance Committee on May 5.
On Thursday, Wu announced his new deputy premier — Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Sean Chen (陳冲).
Chinatrust Financial Holding Co’s chief economic adviser Christina Liu (劉憶如) also told reporters last Friday that she had been appointed to succeed Tsai at the council, Wu did not confirm or deny the appointment.
Wu is scheduled to announce the new Cabinet officials on Wednesday, ahead of the second anniversary of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) inauguration on Thursday.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai