The Presidential Office last night confirmed that former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) would be the next premier, with a formal announcement to be made tomorrow.
The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) yesterday published an exclusive report saying that Chen had accepted the nomination following a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) during the Lunar New Year holiday.
The nomination has to be approved by the Legislative Yuan, with opposition lawmakers vowing to scrutinize his performance if Chen was nominated.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
Chen accepted the nomination because he believes the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) must be united for the presidential election in January next year, the report said, adding that the new Cabinet must strive to deliver the best performance within a little more than a year to support the DPP’s presidential candidate.
“I would like to remind the next premier that people would only feel safe and secure if the new premier heeds public opinion, addresses the nation’s rising crime rate and protects the nation’s cybersecurity systems,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Cultural and Communications Committee head Hung Mong-kai (洪孟楷) said.
“I also hope that the new premier would select Cabinet members from among professionals and experts. He should not pick those who lost in the nine-in-one local elections or from a narrow circle of people,” Hung added.
KMT caucus whip William Cheng (曾銘宗) said that the public would have an even more negative view of the DPP administration if Chen were to lead the Cabinet.
Chen “lacks administrative experience, and he had favored Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗),” Tseng said, referring to the developer of a local COVID-19 vaccine, which has been a target of KMT criticism.
“He also made controversial comments while campaigning for other candidates during the nine-in-one elections last year. The KMT caucus will scrutinize his performance and carefully question him when the next legislative session opens next month,” Tseng said.
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) said Chen would have no “honeymoon” once his nomination is approved.
“The country is experiencing all sorts of problems, from strained cross-strait relations to skyrocketing housing prices, stagnant salaries, delays in US arms sales to Taiwan, and a decline in agricultural and fishery product exports. These issues will have to be addressed immediately once he becomes premier,” Jang said.
DPP Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) said Chen has a positive image as a public health expert.
“As the convener in charge of reforming the pension systems for military personnel, civil servants and public school teachers, Chen showed great communication skills. As a Catholic, he cares for the economically disadvantaged, and knows a lot of people in diplomatic and religious circles,” Hsu said.
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait share a political foundation based on the “1992 consensus” and opposition to Taiwanese independence, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today said during her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Both sides of the Strait should plan and build institutionalized and sustainable mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation based on that foundation to make peaceful development across the Strait irreversible, she said. Peace is a shared moral value across the Strait, and both sides should move beyond political confrontation to seek institutionalized solutions to prevent war, she said. Mutually beneficial cross-strait relations are what the
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
RSS