Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳) is preparing for the establishment of the Ministry of Digital Affairs, which is to be launched as early as next month, her office said yesterday.
The preparations for the new ministry, which are overseen by Tang, have been smooth, her office said, but added that more time is needed for job handovers and staff deployment.
The opening date would be decided by Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), it added.
Photo: Tian Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Tang is regarded as the most likely candidate for the post of Minister of Digital Affairs. The position is to be appointed by the Executive Yuan.
The new ministry would initially have offices in the National Communications Commission (NCC) building on Yanping S Road in Taipei and in the Shin Kong Life Tower near Taipei Railway Station, Tang’s office said.
The locations have been selected as they are close to other ministries and enable easier cross-ministry talks, many of which would be held after the new ministry’s establishment, it said.
Several floors would be rented from Shin Kong Life Insurance, which offered the best deal in terms of office space, condition and lease terms, it said.
The new ministry is to integrate policies on telecommunication, information, cybersecurity, the Internet and communication industries to facilitate the nation’s digital development, the office said.
The ministry is to plan digital development policies, coordinate the planning of digital infrastructure, establish an environment for developing digital technology and manage digital resources, it added.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over