Executive Yuan Secretary-General Li Meng-yen (李孟諺) on Wednesday refuted rumors that “blacklisted” Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) would be forced out of the Cabinet after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Over the past few months, there has been speculation that Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) might soon be ousted and the Cabinet reshuffled, but the Presidential Office and the Executive Yuan have repeatedly denied the rumors.
In a report published earlier that day, the Chinese-language weekly magazine The Journalist (新新聞) said that Hsu has long been “in detention,” and would be forced to “graduate early” after the holiday.
The magazine claimed that Su blacklisted Hsu after he was forced to put out the fire she caused by dropping the unexpected “political bomb” of labor insurance reform to reporters in August last year.
“The Cabinet has no blacklist,” Li said on behalf of the premier.
Su approves of Hsu’s performance, Li said, calling the report “arbitrary conjecture” and urging people not to relay falsehoods.
Rumors about a reshuffle have been circulating for months, although the Cabinet has denied all claims, he said.
The nation is first among its peers in terms of economic growth and COVID-19 pandemic response, earning the Cabinet recognition and the trust of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Su said.
Aside from the insurance reform debacle, the magazine also claimed that Hsu was in hot water for an alleged stock manipulation scheme at her ministry that was made public late last year.
Yu Nai-wen (游迺文), head of the domestic investment division of the Bureau of Labor Funds, was in November last year detained on suspicion of accepting bribes to ask securities brokers to purchase certain stocks using ministry funds.
This caused great embarrassment for the Cabinet and the ruling party during the bureau’s legislative budget review, the report said.
It also pointed to Hsu’s round of visits to ministry departments last month as proof of her impending departure.
Separately yesterday, Su instructed the agencies under his jurisdiction not to slack over the holiday.
He made the comment at a Cabinet meeting, where he heard reports on holiday traffic and pandemic controls, swine fever prevention and commodity pricing.
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