Minister without Portfolio Ovid Tzeng (曾志朗) has been appointed Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) minister, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday.
The announcement came one day after Wu told the press that as council minister Emile Sheng (盛治仁) had tendered his resignation on Thursday night after coming under fire over Dreamers, a musical staged to celebrate the Republic of China’s centennial last month.
Wu said the position left by Tzeng needed to be filled to maintain its vital function of overseeing educational and cultural affairs and promoting tourism.
Minister without Portfolio Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) and Environmental Protection Administration Deputy Minister Chiu Wen-yen (邱文彥), who are both on the roster of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) legislators-at-large for the next term, might also leave the government, Wu said.
Wu said one of the two KMT legislator-at-large candidates had already expressed his wish to resign, and the other might follow suit.
“We have already had minor adjustments in the Cabinet. Whether there will be more is still under consideration,” Wu said.
The Taipei Times was unable to reach Tzeng for comment on his new position because he flew to Europe to attend an international conference on science on Friday night.
A scientist recognized for his work in memory, psycholinguistics and cognitive neuroscience, Tzeng, 67, an academic at Academia Sinica, served as minister of education from 2000 to 2002 during the former Democratic Progressive Party administration.
Sheng resigned in response to public criticism over the extravagant NT$215 million (US$7.13 million) production. Opposition politicians and people in performing arts circles have lambasted the budget as being “exorbitant” for a production that ran for only two nights.
On Friday, both President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Wu acknowledged that it had negatively affected the public’s view of the administration.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS