Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) settled a minor Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, bringing Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源), an aide to People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), and Cyrus Chu (朱敬一), an academic known for his outspoken criticism of the government’s economic policies, into the Cabinet, as well as a replacement for outgoing Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良).
Lee, a professor of civil engineering at National Taiwan University, gained prominence in 1987 after he was brought in by Soong, then-Taiwan provincial governor, to handle flood prevention and water resources management.
His love life overtook his political career in 2009, when an extramarital affair with Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) led him to offer his resignation as deputy commissioner of Taipei County. During his time with the Taipei County government, Lee was often present when President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) inspected hydraulic engineering projects.
Lee will replace Minister of the Public Construction Commission (PCC) Fan Liang-shiow (范良銹) and double as a minister without portfolio in the Cabinet office, Wu said.
Speaking by telephone, Lee said his priorities included river management, disaster prevention and land-use planning, as the PCC will be partly responsible for development after the government’s reconstruction plan is implemented next year.
Fan, 65, told reporters he was asked to see Wu a few days ago after he expressed his wish to end his 40 years of public service to spend more time with his family and hand over his responsibilities to a younger generation.
While Wu has asked Chu, an academician at Academia Sinica since 1998, to join the Cabinet, Chu has been traveling abroad and had yet to give final consent. He was scheduled to return home last night, Wu said.
Wu would not confirm whether Chu would replace Chang Chin-fu (張進福), minister without portfolio responsible for coordinating technology-related policies and executing the six flagship industries. Chang was appointed by former premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) to create momentum for development in the biotechnology, sophisticated energy, medical care, tourism and innovative culture sectors.
Chu, who has a doctorate in economics from the University of Michigan, recently resigned as chairman of the government-affiliated Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, a position he had held since July 2008.
Chu has often been consulted by Ma on economic issues and has published several newspaper articles critical of the government’s economic policies.
Meanwhile, Wu said Lee Yun-jie (李允傑), a professor of public administration at National Open University, would replace Wang Yu-ting (王昱婷) as National Youth Commission minister, while Luo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪), an attorney and consultant to Ma, would succeed Kao Su-po (高思博) as Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs minister.
Wang and Kao recently offered to resign amid accusations that some Cabinet members had refused to run in a legislative by-election.
Taipei Medical University president Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) has been tapped to succeed Yaung as Department of Health minister, the premier said.
Although there has been speculation that Mainland Affairs Council Minister Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) would be replaced, Wu praised her performance and said she would remain in the Cabinet.
The handover ceremony for the new ministers will be held next Wednesday, Wu said.
Minister Without Portfolio Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) told the Taipei Times by telephone last night that he also wanted to step down because he was tired of the job. At press time, Wu’s office had yet to confirm whether it would accept the resignation
RESTRAINTS: Should China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, China would be excluded from major financial institutions, the bill says The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the PROTECT Taiwan Act, which states that Washington would exclude China from participating in major global financial organizations if its actions directly threaten Taiwan’s security. The bill, proposed by Republican Representative Frank Lucas, passed with 395 votes in favor and two against. It stipulates that if China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, the US would, “to the maximum extent practicable,” exclude Beijing from international financial institutions, including the G20, the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. The bill makes it clear that China must be prepared
PEACE AT LAST? UN experts had warned of threats and attacks ahead of the voting, but after a turbulent period, Bangladesh has seemingly reacted to the result with calm The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) yesterday celebrated a landslide victory in the first elections held since a deadly 2024 uprising, with party leader Tarique Rahman to become prime minister. Bangladesh Election Commission figures showed that the BNP alliance had won 212 seats, compared with 77 for the Islamist-led Jamaat-e-Islami alliance. The US embassy congratulated Rahman and the BNP for a “historic victory,” while India praised Rahman’s “decisive win” in a significant step after recent rocky relations with Bangladesh. China and Pakistan, which grew closer to Bangladesh since the uprising and the souring of ties with India, where ousted Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina
FAST-TRACK: The deal is to be sent to the legislature, but time is of the essence, as Trump had raised tariffs on Seoul when it failed to quickly ratify a similar pact Taiwan and the US on Thursday signed a trade agreement that caps US tariffs on Taiwanese goods at 15 percent and provides preferential market access for US industrial and agricultural exports, including cars, and beef and pork products. The Taiwan-US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade confirms a 15 percent US tariff for Taiwanese goods, and grants Taiwanese semiconductors and related products the most-favorable-treatment under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, the Executive Yuan said. In addition, 2,072 items — representing nearly 20 percent of Taiwan’s total exports to the US — would be exempt from additional tariffs and be subject only to
The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday released the first images from its Formosat-8A satellite, featuring high-resolution views of Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), Tainan’s Anping District (安平), Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor (興達港), Japan’s National Stadium in Tokyo and Barcelona airport. Formosat-8A, named the “Chi Po-lin Satellite” after the late Taiwanese documentary filmmaker Chi Po-lin (齊柏林), was launched on Nov. 29 last year. It is designed to capture images at a 1m resolution, which can be sharpened to 0.7m after processing, surpassing the capabilities of its predecessor, Formosat-5, the agency said. It is the first of TASA’s eight-satellite Formosat-8 constellation to be sent into orbit and
RSS