Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) yesterday shrugged off rumors that he has been tapped to serve as the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) secretary-general, saying that taking up a position inside a political party is not part of his life plan.
Chen made the remarks on the sidelines of a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee in Taipei in response to reporters’ questions over whether KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) has contacted him about the secretary-general post.
“I have yet to receive Hung’s telephone call, but it is my plan to simply be a happy citizen after I retire from public service,” said Chen, a KMT member who has served as the Executive Yuan’s secretary-general, deputy mayor of Taipei and deputy head of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
When pressed on the issue, Chen said it is not part of his life plan to assume an administrative role inside the party.
Speculation has been rising about the lineup of Hung’s future party cadres after she held off announcing some of the names of the party’s key officials.
So far, only 11 names have been made public, seven of whom have been designated as KMT deputy secretaries-general, including former KMT legislators Lin Kuo-cheng (林國正) and Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), former Pingtung County Councilor Yeh Shou-shan (葉壽山), Taitung County Council Speaker Rao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴), Chiayi City Council Speaker Hsiao Shu-li (蕭淑麗), KMT deputy caucus whip Lin Te-fu (林德福) and National Development Council special assistant Chang Ya-ping (張雅屏).
Chang has also been appointed to head the KMT’s Organization and Development Committee.
In addition, Taipei City Councilor Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) is to serve as the deputy director-general of the party’s Culture and Communication Committee, while Junior Chamber International Executive Vice President Sean Chang (張淵翔) — the son of former Keelung mayor Chang Tung-jung (張通榮) — is to take the helm of the KMT’s Youth Department.
Former director of the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Government Ethics Department, Chen Hang-sheng (陳杭升), and 567 Alliance Convener Lee Fu-chuan (李福軒) have been appointed to serve as the head and deputy head of the KMT’s Administration and Management Committee respectively.
New Taipei City Councilor Chen Yi-chun (陳儀君) is designated director of the party’s Women’s Department.
“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