As of yesterday afternoon, much of the new Cabinet consisted of familiar faces, with six members set to remain in their posts and others being filled by incumbent deputy ministers or ministers without portfolio, sources said.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) on Thursday led the Cabinet’s mass resignation ahead of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) second-term inauguration on Wednesday next week, which is when the new Cabinet is to take office.
Sources said that Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇), Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) are among the members staying for another term.
Hsu and Lin were asked to remain because of their performance over the past 16 months, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Pan would remain because of his work in implementing the new curriculum in September last year, sources said.
Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津), Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong (蘇建榮) and Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Minister Chu Tzer-ming (朱澤民) are also expected to remain, they said.
Su has approved the resignation of Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), sources said, adding that Hakka Affairs Council Minister Lee Yung-de (李永得) would fill the post.
Lee, who headed the Hakka Affairs Council from 2005 to 2008 and 2016 to this year, has long cultivated cultural and arts circles, leading Su to ask him to succeed Cheng, sources said.
Yang Chang-chen (楊長鎮) is to assume Lee’s post, they added.
Minister Without Portfolio Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) is to take over as minister of Science and Technology from Chen Liang-gee (陳良基), sources said.
Wu, who served as the chairman of the Industrial Technology Research Institute, was a technology policy adviser to Tsai during her 2016 and 2020 presidential election campaigns.
Financial Supervisory Commission Vice Chairman Huang Tien-mu (黃天牧) is to replace Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who has been tipped for a national security or intelligence post, sources said.
Minister Without Portfolio Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) is to replace National Development Council Minister Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶), they added.
NEW AGREEMENT: Malaysia approved imports last year after nearly two years of negotiations and inspections to meet quarantine requirements, officials said Up to 3.6 tonnes of pomeloes from Taiwan cleared Malaysian customs on Friday, in the first shipment of Taiwanese pomeloes to Malaysia. Taiwan-grown pomeloes are popular in domestic and overseas markets for their tender and juicy taste, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said. The fruit is already exported to Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, it added. The agency began applying for access to the Malaysian market in 2023, compiling data on climate suitability, pests and diseases, and post-harvest handling, while also engaging in nearly two years of negotiations with Malaysian authorities and submitting supplementary
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
Tigerair Taiwan and China Airlines (CAL) today announced that several international flights were canceled or rescheduled due to Typhoon Ragasa. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has maintained sea and land warnings for the typhoon. Its storm circle reached the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) on Taiwan's southern tip at 11am today. Tigerair Taiwan said it canceled Monday's IT551/IT552 Taoyuan-Da Nang, IT606/IT607 Taoyuan-Busan and IT602 Taoyuan-Seoul Incheon flights. Tomorrow, cancelations include IT603 Seoul Incheon-Taoyuan, as well as flights between Taoyuan and Sapporo, Osaka, Tokyo Narita, Okinawa, Fukuoka, Saga, Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya, Asahikawa and Jeju. On Wednesday, the IT321/IT322 Kaohsiung-Macau round-trip would also be canceled. CAL announced that today's
About nine Taiwanese are “disappeared,” detained, or otherwise deprived of freedom of movement in China each month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Between Jan. 1 last year and Aug. 31 this year, 188 Taiwanese travelers went missing, were detained and interrogated, or had their personal freedom restricted, with some questioned in airports or hotel lobbies, the council said. In a statement ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the council urged people visiting China for any reason to be highly vigilant and aware of the risks. Of the reported cases, 50 people were “disappeared” after entering China, 19 were detained and 119 had