Newly appointed Minister of Economic Affairs Woody Duh (杜紫軍) yesterday said on his first official day in office that he would do his utmost to speed up Taiwan’s economic recovery and adjust its industrial structure.
“Taiwan’s economic development is like a relay — the head of the Ministry of Economic Affairs [MOEA] hands over the baton to the next one, and that one to another,” Duh said at a handover ceremony in Taipei, which was chaired by Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中).
“With everyone’s help, we can make the country run more efficiently than our global competitors,” said Duh, whose predecessor, former minister of economic affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝), tendered his resignation last week amid recriminations over the series of gas pipeline explosions in Greater Kaohsiung.
Photo: CNA
The gas pipeline explosions on July 31 and Aug. 1 which killed 30 people and left 310 injured, are believed to have been caused by a leak in an underground pipeline carrying propene.
Saying the ministry was like a big family, Duh, 54, said it would take the effort of all concerned to improve the nation’s economic situation.
At the handover ceremony, Duh extended his gratitude toward Chang, 64, saying that Chang was still concerned about the nation’s economic development and that his departure “is a semicolon, not a period, which represents a new beginning.”
This was the first public appearance in a week for Chang, who has reportedly been staying in the countryside in southern Taiwan since he tendered his resignation on Aug. 7.
During his 24-minute speech, Chang said he had a “very solid” time during his one-and-a-half-year tenure as the minister of economic affairs and urged Duh not to “choose evasion.”
“Duh is young, experienced and capable, and handing over the baton to him makes me feel at ease,” Chang said.
Chang said that during the past week, he had identified 20 priorities for the ministry to work on and handed the recommendations to Duh for his future reference.
Among the priorities were tackling outstanding issues in adjustments to industrial structure, the foreign trade environment, the disposal of nuclear waste, industrial land-use plans and investment barriers, Chang said. He did not elaborate.
The ministry must keep striving to “crawl forward under a rain of bullets,” Chang said, referring to what he called an “abominable domestic political environment.”
As for himself, Chang said he would “keep resting a while” in the countryside.
Chang stepped down in spite of attempts by Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) to change his decision. Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) was sent to persuade Chang to stay on just hours after the latter suddenly announced his resignation in a written statement.
Mao repeatedly rang the doorbell of Chang’s apartment in Taipei, but left after failing to get a response.
Chang explained that the doorbell has been broken for about five years. He was not at home anyway, he said, and his wife would not have answered the door even if the doorbell had been working because she did not want to have to deal with the reporters waiting downstairs.
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