Speculation intensified after former minister of finance Lin Chuan (林全), long rumored to be president-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) choice for premier in her incoming administration, was included in Tsai’s transition team on Monday.
Lin, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and former DPP secretary-general Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀) were appointed by Tsai to serve as coconveners of her transition team that is to handle the transfer of power from the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Of the three, Wu’s counterpart is to be Presidential Office Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), and Wu called Tseng to arrange a time line for the transition from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government to a DPP government.
Wu, whose expertise includes relations with the US and China, has been rumored to be earmarked to be the next head of the National Security Council.
He could also be named Presidential Office secretary-general or minister of foreign affairs, pundits said.
Due to his experience with government finances, Lin is seen by many as a likely choice for the premiership, although rumors indicate he is “not very interested” in the top executive job.
DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), who was part of one transition team, said all three coconveners have extensive experience in government service and know how each government department works well, “so they should be able to make the transition very smooth.”
Still, the DPP has called for new legislation to “institutionalize” the transfer of power after a general election, Chen said.
Chen added that there was no “absolute” relationship between the transition team and future personnel appointments, which he said are up to the president.
Other DPP insiders pointed to precedents to counter Chen’s “no relationship” comment, including the 2000 transition team of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
One coconvener of Chen Shui-bian’s transition team, Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄), was later appointed premier, one insider said, adding that “key members in the transition team usually take important jobs in the new administration.”
“It will not be that once you have participated in taking over the government, you leave. This is not the case,” the source said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
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