A Presidential Office source told the Taipei Times yesterday that President Chen Shui-bian (
The mission of the reshuffled Cabinet, said the source, will be to boost the economy, reduce confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties and pave the way for the president's re-election in 2004.
"Yu carried through a series of vital political missions last year, including the holding of the Economic Development Advisory Conference and the government reform committee," the source said.
"He shuttled between the opposition parties and consulted with them patiently over the conference. He has been able to grasp the president's requirements and bottom-line with precision and thus became the president's most trusted top aide."
In fact, senior DPP legislator Hong Chi-chang (
Back in 1997 when Yu relinquished the post of Ilan County commissioner after eight years on the job, Chen, then Taipei City mayor, appointed Yu to be the president of the Taipei MRT Company.
This was intended as an interim arrangement prior to Yu's intended appointment as deputy mayor in preparation for his own candidacy in the mayoral election once Chen's tenure expired in 1998.
But things did not work out as planned.
Chen was defeated in his mayoral re-election bid and decided to run for the presidential election in 2000. Yu took charge of Chen's campaign and was rewarded with the post of vice premier after Chen won the presidency.
But the Pachang Creek (八掌溪) incident of July 2000 -- which triggered the first political crisis of the newly inaugurated administration -- resulted in Yu's resignation to shoulder political responsibility for the then premier Tang Fei (唐飛). The incident involved the deaths of four workers in floodwaters in Chiayi County after rescue helicopters failed to materialize.
Yu had decided to travel abroad, but the president persuaded him to stay in the country, planning to entrust him with major political undertakings at the earliest opportunity, said an official from Yu's office.
After Tang resigned in October 2000, then secretary-general to the president Chang Chun-hsiung was chosen for the premiership, paving the way for Yu to re-emerge in Chen's administration.
Meanwhile, on the general issue of the Cabinet reshuffle, a close aide to the president said that Chen had been deliberately low key about it since the DPP's success in the legislative elections. The aide said the low-key approach was an attempt to refrain from ruffling the opposition.
Chen reportedly had a few names on his list for the premiership, including the incumbent Chang Chun-hsiung (
"Apart from the posts of chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council and the ministers of defense and foreign affairs, on which the president had made his decisions, the appointments of all the other Cabinet members were left to Yu," the aide said. "This demonstrates the president's trust in him."
"As for the new vice premier, Yu had preferred Chiang Ping-kun (江丙坤), a former KMT chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development to take the job, but the KMT Central Standing Committee's resolution that no party member may join the new Cabinet precludes him. So the job went to Lin Hsin-yi (林信義)," the aide said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
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