Former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) specially appointed deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) resigned for “family reasons,” and the council’s deputy minister, Lin Chu-chia (林祖嘉) was appointed to Chang’s position, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday.
Chang also resigned as vice chairman and secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation, a position he held concurrently since February when the semi-official agency’s deputy head Kao Koong-lain (高孔廉) left the job.
A meeting of the foundation’s boards and supervisors is to be convened to approve appointments for vice chairman and secretary-general, with Lin and another vice chairman of the foundation, Ma Shaw-chang (馬紹章), speculated to be possible candidates.
Lin, who has a degree from the Department of Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles, was previously a professor of economics at National Chengchi University. He was in charge of issues related to cross-strait trade and economic and regional economic integration since he was appointed the council’s deputy minister in November 2012.
Since then, he was involved in negotiations with China leading to the signing of the cross-strait service trade agreement in June last year.
The Chinese-language United Daily Evening News reported yesterday that Chang decided to quit to look after his aged mother in his hometown in Greater Taichung.
Foundation Deputy Secretary-General Shih Hui-fen (施惠芬) was appointed to fill the position left vacant by Lin, the Executive Yuan said in a statement, which included other reshuffles to the Ministry of Education and the Council of Hakka Affairs.
Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages president Lucia Lin (林思伶) is to succeed Chen Der-hwa (陳德華) as deputy minister of education, and Council of Hakka Affairs Department of Culture and Education Director Fan Tso-ming (范佐銘) was promoted to deputy minister of the council, the statement said.
The position of labor minister was not yet filled after Pan Shi-wei (潘世偉) resigned over allegations of an extramarital affair three weeks ago, the statement added.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
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 lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
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