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."
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe