A Cabinet reshuffle is to be finalized later this week, with more than five senior officials expected to be replaced, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.
While confirming that the reshuffle would be completed this week, Cho declined to elaborate on the scale of the change.
However, he acknowledged that more than five ministers or deputy ministers would be replaced, given that some officials had already tendered their resignations.
Photo: CNA
He was referring to Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝), who cited health concerns after 15 months in office, and Minister of Digital Affairs Huang Yen-nun (黃彥男), who said he would return to his previous research work. Deputy Minister of Education Benson Yeh (葉丙成) has also tendered his resignation.
Cho said the reshuffle would be the result of a “comprehensive” review of the current Cabinet and reflect new policy priorities that President William Lai (賴清德) pledged last week.
Shortly after recall votes targeting seven Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers failed on Saturday, dealing a blow to his government, Lai vowed that the new Cabinet would ensure that his administration would be more effective in solving problems and responsive to public opinion.
Lai said that while Cho had also expressed an intention to step down, he had been persuaded to stay on as premier.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has suffered major setbacks after failed attempts to push for the recall of 31 KMT lawmakers and having a 20 percent baseline tariff imposed on Taiwanese goods sold to the US, prompting the party to make changes.
Lai said that his administration would prioritize an agenda focused on the economy and people’s livelihoods, and pursue more dialogue with the opposition. The administration had been engaged in a stand-off with the opposition-
controlled legislature since Lai took office in May last year.
Cho yesterday said that the Cabinet would work toward improving its relationship with opposition leaders and lawmakers, as several bills concerning budgets and special allocations still require legislative approval.
“[We] hope the legislature will give us this opportunity,” he said.
However, the government’s ongoing challenges of several opposition-backed bills passed by the legislature at the Constitutional Court are “not open for discussion,” he said.
Over the past year, the DPP government has brought several pieces of legislation to court in an effort to overturn them, including the 2025 central government budget and measures mandating a larger share of tax revenue for local governments.
The Cabinet also plans to challenge in court the legislature’s approval of increases in military personnel allowances.
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have declared they survived recall votes to remove them from office today, although official results are still pending as the vote counting continues. Although final tallies from the Central Election Commission (CEC) are still pending, preliminary results indicate that the recall campaigns against all seven KMT lawmakers have fallen short. As of 6:10 pm, Taichung Legislators Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) and Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), Hsinchu County Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘), Nantou County Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) and New Taipei City Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) had all announced they
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday visited Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), as the chipmaker prepares for volume production of Nvidia’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) chips. It was Huang’s third trip to Taiwan this year, indicating that Nvidia’s supply chain is deeply connected to Taiwan. Its partners also include packager Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品精密) and server makers Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Quanta Computer Inc (廣達). “My main purpose is to visit TSMC,” Huang said yesterday. “As you know, we have next-generation architecture called Rubin. Rubin is very advanced. We have now taped out six brand new
RSS