The board of directors of Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) yesterday elected Tony Fan (范志強) as the new chairman of the company. James Jeng (鄭光遠) was appointed the chief executive officer of the firm.
Fan is currently the chairman of Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX). Jeng serves as the chairman of Uni Airways. They are to succeed former THSRC chairman and CEO Ou Chin-der (歐晉德), who resigned earlier this month. THSRC spokesperson Ted Chia (賈先德) said Jeng will assume his post today.
Fan, on the other hand, will be chairman of TAIFEX and THSRC until May 15, when TAIFEX futures and options are scheduled to be listed as daily expiring futures on the Eurex Exchange, he said.
Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman William Tseng (曾銘宗) also confirmed yesterday that Fan will leave TAIFEX after the deal with the Eurex Exchange is concluded.
“Between now and May 15, Mr Fan will receive salary only from TAIFEX,” Chia said.
Asked about Fan’s comments about the board’s decision, Chia said the new chairman promised to do the best he can to meet the challenges ahead.
According to Chia, Fan and Jeng garnered unanimous support from the members of the board.
The board consists of nine members representing the government and six others who are private shareholders.
Chia said the meeting was held legally because it had met the minimum requirement in the law for a valid board meeting.
Prior to his current position, Fan was chairman of TransAsia Airways. The debt-ridden air carrier was able to generate profits under his guidance.
Aside from being Uni Air chairman, Jeng was also president and chairman of EVA Airways and was involved in the establishment of the THSRC.
Jeng has a master’s degree in maritime transportation management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a transportation doctorate from National Chiao Tung University.
Evergreen Group spokesperson Nigh Kuo-wei (聶國維) said the group respected Jeng’s personal decision to leave, adding that yesterday was his last day on the job.
Nigh emphasized that the public must not associate Jeng’s new job at the THSRC with the possibility that he was sent by the group to take the job.
The board also approved Ou’s retirement plan, as well as those of senior vice president of corporate planning division Ricardo Tan (譚尹衡) and chief operating officer Alex Chang (張煥光).
All three have met the retirement age.
“Ou said in a letter to the employees that his resignation was a small matter, but Taiwan cannot survive one day without the high-speed rail and that the high-speed rail drives the development of the nation,” Chia said.
“He hoped the government and THSRC board, as partners in a build-operate-transfer project, can work together for the sustainability of the high-speed rail,” Chia added.
During the board meeting, four high-speed trains were delayed because of an abnormality detected in a railway switch near Taipei Railway Station. The delay affected approximately 1,400 passengers.
This marks the sixth incident for the service since high-speed rail ticket prices were raised.
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
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
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