Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday appointed his long-time aide Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀) as the party’s secretary-general while also making former representative to the US Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) the head of the DPP’s policy-making body.
The appointments — Su’s first since the former premier took over the party helm on May 27 — also included three deputy secretary-generals: former Pingtung County legislator Lin Yu-shen (林育生), who is close to Su; former Tainan County lawmaker Lee Chun-yi (李俊毅) and former DPP spokesperson Lin Yu-chang (林右昌), DPP spokesperson Wang Min-sheng (王閔生) told a press conference.
A long-time colleague of Su’s, Lin Hsi-yao served for five years as deputy commissioner in Taipei County — now known as New Taipei City (新北市) — when Su was the county commissioner between 1997 and 2004. Lin served as the county’s acting commissioner between 2004 and 2005.
Photo: Lee Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
The decision to appoint Wu as director of the DPP’s Policy Research Committee has raised eyebrows and it appears to reflect Su’s intention to improve ties with Washington, Beijing and pro-independence forces within the DPP.
Wu — now a researcher at National Cheng Chi University’s Institute of International Relations — has wide experience handling cross-strait and Taiwan-US relations during DPP administrations and served as chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council between 2004 and 2007. He was Taiwan’s representative to the US between 2007 and 2008.
Su has also made efforts to divide power among major party factions with the appointments of deputy secretary-generals Lee, who is close to former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and Yu-chang Lin.
Su has sought to nominate the best possible candidates for the positions, Wang said.
More appointments are expected to be unveiled at the Central Standing Committee meeting tomorrow, Wang said.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
RSS