The Cabinet, led by Premier and vice president-elect Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), will resign en masse on Jan. 31 before the Eighth Legislature takes its oath of office on Feb. 1, Executive Yuan spokesman Philip Yang (楊永明) said yesterday.
“In accordance with regulations and conventions, the Executive Yuan will call a special Cabinet meeting on Jan. 31 to approve its mass resignation,” Yang told a press conference held following the weekly Cabinet meeting.
Yang said he had no information on who would be appointed premier by the president.
At the Cabinet meeting, Wu instructed the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the Ministry of the Interior to find ways to prevent a recurrence of the problems in Saturday’s elections, in which more than 13,000 servicemen on duty on Election Day were -unable to cast their ballots, while residents of outlying islands failed to vote because airports on the islands were shrouded in fog.
Meanwhile, Construction and Planning Agency -Director--General Yeh Shih-wen (葉世文) briefed the Cabinet on the progress of two low-cost housing projects in -Fujhou Borough (浮州), Banciao District (板橋), new Taipei City (新北市), and near a planned mass rapid transit (MRT) station in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口).
The Banciao project, which comprises 4,480 residential units, is scheduled to be completed by 2015; the Linkou project, which consists of 3,960 units, is scheduled for completion in 2014.
Out of a total of 8,249 applications received to purchase the houses, 5,673, or 69 percent, were filed by Taipei residents, while 2,262, or 27 percent, came from New Taipei City residents, Yeh said.
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