■POLITICS
Cabinet reshuffle finalized
The government completed its reshuffle yesterday, with Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) saying that Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德) would remain in his post, as would Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Vice Chairperson Lee Jih-chu (李紀珠), whom Wu said last week would leave the Cabinet. Asked why he changed his mind and kept Lee Jih-chu, Wu declined to comment on whether it was because she had told reporters on Thursday that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Wu had offered her four different positions to step down as FSC vice chairperson. The reshuffle saw former FSC chairman Sean Chen (陳冲) succeed Eric Chu (朱立倫) as vice premier, while the former chairman of First Financial Holding Co, Chen Yuh-chang (陳裕璋), succeeded Sean Chen at the commission. Meanwhile, Christina Liu (劉憶如), former Chinatrust Financial Holding Co’s chief economic adviser, replaced Tsai Hsun-hsiung (蔡勳雄) as chair of the Council for Economic Planning and Development. Tsai refused the post of president of state-owned CPC Corp, Taiwan, a position vacant since September when Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) was appointed to lead the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Late last night, the Executive Yuan appointed Tsai as chief of Sinotech Engineering Inc, a government-funded non-profit organization dedicated to providing engineering consulting services.
■DIPLOMACY
MOFA prepares Thai plan
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has prepared a contingency plan in response to the escalating conflict between protesters and the Thai government in Bangkok, with evacuation of Taiwanese expatriates the last resort, the ministry said yesterday. Spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said the nation’s representative office in Thailand had prepared responses to different scenarios and evacuating Taiwanese expatriates in Thailand was merely one of the scenarios. Chen said the office had not activated the measure, but advised Taiwanese businesspeople and other expatriates in Bangkok to stay in touch with each other. When asked under what circumstances the ministry would begin an evacuation, Chen said the measure would be implemented when expatriates’ lives are in danger. The ministry raised the level of its travel alert for Bangkok to “red” on Friday, advising people to avoid traveling to Bangkok after the US and the UK closed their embassies amid an upsurge in violence between security forces and protesters.
■TRANSPORTATION
KRTC expects to trim losses
Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC), which has been in the red since the Kaohsiung MRT opened in 2008, expects its losses to fall by about NT$100 million (US$3.14 million) this year because of increasing passenger volume. According to KRTC figures, the metro system carried 15.3 million passengers in the first four months of the year, up 5.8 percent from a year earlier. “The daily average passenger volume rose by about 7,000 passengers [to 127,000] during the four-month period,” a KRTC official said. “If the growth is sustained for the rest of the year, we expect the loss for 2010 to be nearly NT$100 million less than last year,” he said. Passenger numbers were still far short of the 300,000 per day that the company has said it would need to break even. Last year, the Kaohsiung metro system incurred a loss of NT$1.54 billion after receiving a subsidy from the Kaohsiung City Government.
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
EVA Airways on Saturday said that it had suspended a pilot and opened an investigation after he allegedly lost his temper and punched the first officer several times as their plane was taxiing before takeoff at Los Angeles International Airport. According to a report published on Thursday by The Reporter, the incident occurred after the flight’s Malaysian first officer tried to warn the Taiwanese pilot, surnamed Wen (文), that he was taxiing faster than the speed limit of 30 knots (55.6kph). After alerting the pilot several times without response, the first officer manually applied the brakes in accordance with standard operating
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
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