President-elect William Lai (賴清德) yesterday tapped former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) to be the next premier, to take office after the inauguration on May 20.
Lai made the announcement at a news conference in Taipei, at which he unveiled the slogan “an active and innovative Cabinet,” or “AI” Cabinet.
Cho, 65, served as the Cabinet secretary-general from September 2005 to January 2006 and again from September 2017 to December 2018, when Lai was premier under President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Lai stepped down from the post in late December 2018 to run for DPP chairman, a role left vacant following Tsai’s departure after the party’s defeat in local elections in November 2018.
Cho served as DPP chairman from January 2019 until Tsai began her second term as president, before returning as the head of the party in May 2020.
During his tenure from 2019 to 2020, Cho played a key role in navigating a contentious primary race between Lai and Tsai.
Cho is known as a relatively soft-spoken negotiator, with more than three decades of experience in government as a city councilor, legislator, presidential secretary-general and Cabinet member.
He largely stayed out of politics following Tsai’s return, until he was invited to join Lai’s campaign last year.
More recently, Cho was a member of a “study group” convened by Lai that helped formulate the candidate’s national infrastructure platform, and was a key member of Lai’s presidential campaign, organizing overseas support organizations.
During yesterday’s news conference, Lai said Cho was a perfect choice for premier because he is known for his communication skills and has prioritized national interests ahead of party differences.
“We’ve worked together for the same causes, and we have trusted and supported each other,” Lai said.
Cho said he was honored to take up the post, pledging to do his best.
He said he was given three major tasks by Lai, the first of which is to build an “active and innovative Cabinet” to transform Taiwan into a “smart tech island.”
The second is to establish a communications platform to solicit public opinion on major issues where a social consensus has not yet been formed to resolve difficult problems, he said.
The third is to create a “healthy Taiwan” by promoting equal rights and expanding investment in projects of concern to young people, such as affordable housing, education, employment and childcare, he said.
Cho told reporters that he would announce his other Cabinet members soon, adding that he would reach across party lines.
“I hope this active, innovative ... Cabinet, will as in the past uphold the spirit of a great democratic alliance, using people based on their talents without distinction to party affiliations and proactively training a younger generation,” he said.
Lai also named former minister of culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) as vice premier, National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) as secretary-general and former Taichung city councilor Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) as spokesman.
Cheng, who served as Tsai’s culture minister throughout her first term, was a central pillar in shaping Lai’s policy platform during his presidential campaign.
The 54-year-old has not held an official position since she left the culture ministry in 2020, but has remained active in nonprofit organizations with liaison to the Tsai administration.
They include the General Association of Chinese Culture, which is headed by Tsai with Cheng as one of her deputies.
The association, with a mission to expand Taiwan’s cultural outreach, has been responsible for the visuals designed for Double Ten National Day celebrations and has hosted the Presidential Culture Awards for several years.
Kung has headed up the National Development Council since May 2020 while also serving as the Cabinet’s minister without portfolio since 2019. Before that, he was deputy economics minister for nearly one-and-a-half years.
The 60-year-old has been a principal architect of some of Tsai’s major policies, including shaping Taiwan’s 2050 net zero carbon emissions campaign and programs to promote the development of the cybersecurity, precision health, renewable energy and national defense sectors.
Local media have reported that National Security Council Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄), a lawyer by training, would likely take over as defense minister from Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正), a former army commander.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) would likely succeed Koo as head of the National Security Council, they reported.
National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥), who had previously served as Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the EU, would stay on as head of the intelligence agency, the reports added.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia