Three high-ranking financial and economic Cabinet officials were appointed yesterday while Minister without Portfolio Arthur Iap (葉國興), who caused much uproar and controversy while heading the Government Inform-ation Office (GIO), will become the Cabinet secretary-general once the Cabinet reshuffle has been finalized, Premier Yu Shy-kun announced yesterday.
The three financial and economic officials are Ho Mei-yueh (
Other Cabinet officials who will remain include the head of the Environmental Protection Administration Chang Juu-en (張祖恩), Atomic Energy Council Chairman Ouyang Min-shen (歐陽敏盛), Minister without Portfolio Lin Sheng-feng (林盛豐), Minister without Portfolio Kuo Yao-chi (郭瑤琪) and Minister without Portfolio Hsu Chih-hsiung (許志雄).
Yu made the announcement yesterday morning after presiding over the swearing-in ceremony of Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyuan (
Su, Chen and Lee will resign on May 12 when Yu leads all Cabinet officials to resign en masse, in accordance with constitutional precedence.
Yu said yesterday that the search for financial and economic Cabinet officials frustrated him.
"I've inquired about the availability of several possible candidates recommended by industrial leaders over the past few days, but none of them were interested," Yu said, adding that the list included Acer Inc Chairman and CEO Stan Shih (施振榮).
Shih declined the offer, citing health reasons. Nevertheless, he offered to provide advice if asked, Yu said. Others cited the "revolving door" policy of civil servants or their reluctance to answer to the lawmaking body as reasons for declining the government positions.
Outgoing Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (
"Some outstanding financial or economic experts are just not good at promoting themselves or don't feel comfortable interacting with lawmakers who are known for their vitriolic criticism of government officials," he said.
"It's an interesting phenomenon that the definition of a good political functionary here in Taiwan consists of 90 percent grandstanding and 10 percent hard-work and expertise," he said.
Iap, 52, was appointed minister without portfolio in July last year, in charge of reviewing media-related projects. Citing health reasons, Iap resigned in June last year.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
The first tropical storm of the year in the western North Pacific, Wutip (蝴蝶), has formed over the South China Sea and is expected to move toward Hainan Island off southern China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. The agency said a tropical depression over waters near the Paracel and Zhongsha islands strengthened into a tropical storm this morning. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 64.8kph, with peak gusts reaching 90kph, it said. Winds at Beaufort scale level 7 — ranging from 50kph to 61.5kph — extended up to 80km from the center, it added. Forecaster Kuan Hsin-ping
RSS