President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) second term would start with a minor Cabinet reshuffle, with National Development Council Minister Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶), Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) leaving, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday.
Tsai and vice president-elect William Lai (賴清德) are to be inaugurated on Wednesday next week.
The three ministers have accomplished the missions they were assigned, and the reshuffle would not interrupt efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 or the government’s operations, the source said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Minister Without Portfolio Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫), who is at the helm of the government’s economic stimulus policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been tapped to take over the National Development Council, they said.
Chen Liang-gee plans to return to teaching at National Taiwan University, where he used to be a chair professor, they said.
Cheng yesterday said on Facebook that she had decided to leave the Cabinet before the Jan. 11 presidential and legislative elections, and had tendered her resignation to Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) on Jan. 16 because she wanted to spend more time with her son before he starts elementary school.
However, she decided to delay her departure after the COVID-19 outbreak began to worsen, because she was worried about the effect the outbreak might have on the nation’s arts and cultural sector, Cheng wrote.
Cheng took up the culture portfolio as part of former premier Lin Chuan’s (林全) Cabinet, and she said she had been reluctant to stay on when Su asked her to join his Cabinet in January last year.
However, she is glad she did and that she had the opportunity to push for many pieces of legislation that have helped promote the nation’s culture and the establishment of the National Human Rights Museum and the Taiwan Creative Content Agency, she wrote.
She said she was also proud of helping introducing the concept of “cultural governance” to the nation’s political culture.
Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) and Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) are staying on, despite recent controversies, the source said.
Hsu sparked an uproar in March when he reported National Police Agency Director-General Chen Jia-chin (陳家欽) to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office over alleged graft involving the agency’s staffing.
Su was not pleased by Hsu’s handling of the matter, but decided to keep Hsu in his because of his abilities, the source said.
Yen has come under criticism over the handling of an outbreak of COVID-19 on a ship that took part in the navy’s “Friendship Flotilla” mission to Palau.
Chen Liang-gee wrote on Facebook that he was grateful to have been given the opportunity to serve the nation for four years.
Technology is the foundation of a nation and the way to its prosperity, and he would continue dedicating himself to creating a quality and competitive research environment and incubator in the nation, he said.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
The Taipei District Court today ruled to extend the incommunicado detention of former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) for two more months as part of an ongoing corruption trial. Codefendants in the case — real-estate tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and Ko's former mayoral office head Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗) — were granted bail of NT$100 million (US$3.4 million) and NT$20 million respectively. Sheen and Lee would also be barred from leaving the country for eight months and prohibited from contact with, harassing, threatening or inquiring after the case with codefendants or witnesses. The two would also be