Opposition lawmakers yesterday continued to berate Minister of Economic Affairs Christine Tsung (
But Premier Yu Shyi-kun said it was premature to judge a Cabinet official who has been in office for just one month.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Tsung -- though taken aback by the legislature's feisty interpellation style -- said yesterday she would hang on to her post.
Tsung is an old friend of President Chen Shui-bian (
"You don't have to eat the whole apple to tell it is rotten," KMT lawmaker Liao Fung-te (廖風德) said yesterday. "The DPP has found an intern to steer the economics ministry. Tsung is obviously inept, judging from her performance at the Economics Committee yesterday."
On Monday, nearly 60 lawmakers from across the spectrum lined up to question Tsung, who vowed upon her appointment to turn the economy around and bring the unemployment rate below 3.8 percent within two years.
Tall, sophisticated and attractive -- Fortune once put Tsung on its "people to watch" list -- the former head of China Airlines spoke with increasing unease later in the day after giving a series of wrong answers to questions.
She mistakenly said the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant would be completed in 2011. The official estimate is 2006. She also floundered in defining economic terms raised by lawmakers.
Having lived in the US for decades before her return in 1999, Tsung couldn't help but intersperse her speeches with English. This drew protest from legislators who insisted they had problems comprehending her.
"I don't see how the minister can help the economy take off when she -- with tears in her eyes? -- looked crestfallen during the interpellation [on Monday]," KMT legislator Yang Chung-ying (楊瓊櫻) said yesterday.
PFP lawmaker Chou Hsi-wei (
Defending his Cabinet, the premier urged the legislature to give Tsung more time to learn the ropes.
"Having taken office for just one month, Tsung is still in the process of adjusting," Yu said. "Given more time, she will prove a competent minister."
The premier said the adjustment usually would take six months but Tsung, given her intelligence, could master her job in three months.
For her part, Tsung greeted the volley of criticism with her hallmark smile. She pshawed charges of ineptitude, saying a good minister did not have to be omniscient.
"It's unrealistic to expect a minister to know everything," Tsung told reporters.
"Rather, I will act as a strategic leader, overseeing and coordinating a staff of 70,000."
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
RSS