The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said it has very low expectations for the new Cabinet, as it is not significantly different from the previous Cabinet, and “exists to serve only the will of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).”
“The Cabinet reshuffle is plain and insignificant, and I am sure many people feel the same way,” KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said on the sidelines of the party’s Lunar New Year festive gathering.
“We are facing many challenges in the post-pandemic era, but the officials who have been put in charge of national security, internal politics, and financial and economic affairs are uninspiring,” he said.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
“Instead of guiding the nation in a specific direction of governing, these officials were appointed based on their loyalty to factions of the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP],” Chu said. “We should not have high expectations for the DPP, as they tend to put the party’s will above the people’s interests.”
Chu criticized incoming premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) for accepting administrative leave from his position at Academia Sinica rather than resigning after he accepted Tsai’s appointment.
“It seems that a Cabinet led by Chen would be served by someone who sees himself as a caretaker until the KMT wins the next election,” Chu said.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
Former KMT chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said the lack of difference between the new and previous Cabinet shows that Tsai has a limited number of people to choose from, and that the DPP has not learned from November’s election losses.
“The DPP lost most of the local elections because it did not listen to the people, yet the new Cabinet was formed to serve Tsai, not to serve the people,” he added.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the KMT said people should give the new Cabinet some time before judging how it performs.
“It is not meaningful to quibble on procedures at Academia Sinica,” DPP legislative caucus director Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said yesterday in response to the criticisms.
“The opposition is making a fuss over Chen’s leave of absence from research work on a suspended salary during his service,” Cheng said.
The opposition always takes biased stances to criticize DPP members accepting government posts, which is not fair, he said.
“Taiwanese have objective views on Chen’s standing in academia, and on his decision to return to politics,” Cheng said.
“Chen has personal warmth. He is just like the ‘noble knight’ in the historical traditions of the Catholic Church,” he added.
‘ANGRY’: Forgetting the humiliations and sacrifices of ‘the people of the Republic of China’ experienced disqualified Lai from being president, Ma Ying-jeou said Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday criticized President William Lai (賴清德) over what he called “phrasing that downplayed Japan’s atrocities” against China during World War II. Ma made the remarks in a post on Facebook on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Ma said he was “angry and disappointed” that Lai described the anniversary as the end of World War II instead of a “victory in the war of resistance” — a reference to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The eight-year war was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other Axis
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday announced a ban on all current and former government officials from traveling to China to attend a military parade on Sept. 3, which Beijing is to hold to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War. "This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Republic of China’s victory in the War of Resistance [Against Japan]," MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a regular news briefing in Taipei. To prevent Beijing from using the Sept. 3 military parade and related events for "united
‘OFFSHORE OPERATIONS’: Also in Dallas, Texas, the Ministry of Economic Affairs inaugurated its third Taiwan Trade and Investment Center to foster closer cooperation The 2025 Taiwan Expo USA opened on Thursday in Dallas, Texas, featuring 150 Taiwanese companies showcasing their latest technologies in the fields of drones, smart manufacturing and healthcare. The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), the event’s organizer, said the exhibitors this year include Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (Foxconn), the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer; AUO; PC brand Asustek Computer; and drone maker Thunder Tiger. In his opening speech, TAITRA chairman James Huang (黃志芳) said he expected Texas to become a world-class center for innovation and manufacturing as US technology companies from Silicon Valley and Taiwanese manufacturers form an industrial cluster
A 20-year-old man yesterday evening was electrocuted and fell to his death after he climbed a seven-story-high electricity tower to photograph the sunset, causing a wildfire on Datong Mountain (大同山) in New Taipei City’s Shulin District (樹林), the Taoyuan Police Department said today. The man, surnamed Hsieh (謝), was accompanied on an evening walk by a 20-year-old woman surnamed Shang (尚) who remained on the ground and witnessed the incident, capturing a final photograph of her friend sitting atop the tower before his death, an initial investigation showed. Shang then sought higher ground to call for help, police said. The New Taipei
RSS