The Executive Yuan yesterday unveiled its new Cabinet aimed at expediting procedures and policies, and bolstering President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration.
Under the reshuffle, which started on Sunday, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫), the former head of the National Development Council (NDC), would become minister of economic affairs, following J.W. Kuo’s (郭智輝) resignation on Thursday last week, who left citing health reasons, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said.
Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Xavier Chang (張惇涵) would take over Kung’s post, Lee said, confirming reports from sources last week.
Photo: CNA
Overseas Community Affairs Council Deputy Minister Ruan Jhao-syong (阮昭雄) would be assuming Chang’s position, while former Hsinchu City councilor Lee Yen-hui (李妍慧) is expected to replace Ruan, she added.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) is expected to formally introduce the new Cabinet members at a news conference today, following an Executive Yuan meeting, she said.
Michelle Lee confirmed rumors reported last week that Olympic badminton champion Lee Yang (李洋) would head the Ministry of Sports, which is to be officially established on Sept. 9.
Sports Administration Director Cheng Shih-chung (鄭世忠), Taiwan Institute of Sport Science CEO Huang Chi-huang (黃啟煌) and Sports Administration Deputy Director-General Hung Chih-chang (洪志昌) are expected to serve as Lee Yang’s deputy ministers, she said.
Former Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (中華經濟研究院) president Yeh Chun-hsien (葉俊顯) is to replace NDC Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清), who resigned on Tuesday night, citing health reasons, Michelle Lee said.
National Health Insurance Administration Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) would head the Ministry of Health and Welfare, while Centers for Disease and Control Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) would be deputy minister, she said.
Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) is to take over the agency, while Taiwan Artificial Intelligence Academy Foundation secretary-general Hou Yi-hsiu (侯宜秀) would become deputy minister, she said.
Elsewhere, Ministry of Environment Chemicals Administration Director-General Hsieh Yein-rui (謝燕儒) would become the new deputy minister, while Ming Chuan University vice president for international affairs Liu Kuo-wei (劉國偉) would be appointed political deputy minister of the Ministry of Education, she said.
Legendary baseball pitcher Chen Yi-hsin (陳義信) is to become deputy minister of the Council of Indigenous Peoples, she said.
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS