After years of being the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) spin doctor, outgoing DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) is set to take on the task of explaining the government's policies and polishing its image when he takes over as minister of the Government Information Office (GIO).
Cheng, 39, is the youngest member of the new Cabinet that has been assembled by premier-designate Su Tseng-chang (
A graduate of the department of sociology at National Taiwan University, Cheng was one of the leaders of the Wild Lily Students' Movement, which facilitated a chain of political reforms in Taiwan in the 1990s.
Cheng joined the DPP's biggest faction, the New Tide faction, in 1991 and later took charge of campaign advertisements and publicity for several DPP figures, including former chairwoman of the Council of Labor Affairs Chen Chu (
In 1998, after the New Tide faction called on younger party members to return to their hometowns and develop grass-roots support, Cheng was elected Taoyuan County councilor. But three years later, after a failed bid in the Taoyuan legislative election, Cheng chose to return to the DPP's central headquarters, where he became involved in the party's culture and information department.
Cheng served as director of publicity for the DPP's 2004 presidential campaign, coming up with resourceful responses to attacks and denunciations from opposition candidates.
After President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) re-election, Cheng became the DPP's spokesman and was promoted to director of the culture and information department. Because of Su's close ties with the New Tide faction, he frequently confided in Cheng, who is one of the faction's more powerful members. During Su's one-year term as DPP chairman, Cheng supplied Su with invaluable suggestions on handling the media.
Cheng is famous for being suave and quick-witted, and interacting well with reporters as DPP spokesman.
With his good memory and easygoing nature, Cheng is always ready with a clever response.
"I have used up three [cellphone] batteries in one day answering all kinds of questions pouring in from reporters," Cheng said at one press conference.
"And I'm proud that I'm able to relate to reporters what each high-ranking party official said in the central standing committee, precisely and without any exaggeration," he added.
In addition to being able to take charge of a news conference, Cheng is also one of the most popular campaign rally hosts, with an innate ability to get an audience excited.
Although the imminent closure of the GIO means that Cheng will be the last GIO Minster, he has a clear grasp about "what is news and what should be news."
"To articulate and elaborate on the government's policies and reduce misunderstandings between the governing party and opposition parties to the minimum will be my job," Cheng said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
RSS