President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) offers of a position as a senior presidential adviser were rebuffed by former presidential adviser Peng Ming-min (彭明敏), as well as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) heavyweights Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃), sources said.
While former DPP chairman Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文) has accepted a post as a senior adviser to the president, Su and Yu both turned down the offer, while veteran democracy advocate Peng has “provisionally declined it,” sources said.
A member of Peng’s office confirmed that Tsai offered Peng a position as senior presidential adviser, but that he had refused the offer due to old age and because his recommendations on the direction the nation should take are routinely published by local media.
The staffer said Peng had served as former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) senior presidential adviser and that his expertise in international law had helped the government’s diplomatic efforts in the US, Japan, EU member states and other nations.
Peng believes that “the time is right” for Taiwan’s normalization as a state in the international community, and that the Tsai administration should make a “determined and forceful commitment” to join international organizations, the staffer said.
A source close to Su said he turned down the offer because he believes that in past administrations, senior presidential advisers and national policy advisers had been of “limited utility” and “little help” in governing the nation, and he recommended that Tsai do away with the positions.
Sources added that Tsai’s office late last month telephoned Yu to offer him the post, but he declined on grounds that others should have the opportunity to serve the president.
Meanwhile, the Presidential Office confirmed that the recruitment of senior presidential and national policy advisers is ongoing, but added there is no established timetable and it does not comment on individual cases.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their