The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday called for a Cabinet reshuffle, particularly in national security and economic positions, over what it described as the government’s mishandled response to the US imposing tariffs on Taiwanese goods.
The Executive Yuan on Thursday denounced the tariff as “deeply unreasonable,” and held a news conference on Friday pledging NT$88 billion (US$2.66 billion) in economic support measures.
KMT caucus secretary-general Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) yesterday said that Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo’s (郭智輝) silence during the news conference showed poor leadership, while his acquiescence to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming’s (柯建銘) call to “ignore the media” reflected the Cabinet’s incompetence.
Photo: Taipei Times
If Ker’s statement — reportedly made after attending a national security meeting — that Taiwan would only be hit by “at most” a 10 percent tariff is true, Taiwan is woefully uninformed and the entire national security team should be reshuffled, Wang said.
Commenting on Premier Cho Jung-tai’s (卓榮泰) plan to convene a cross-party caucus meeting to address the tariff issue, KMT Legislator Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said that President William Lai (賴清德), in his role as DPP chairman, should meet with KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) to “show sincerity.”
DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) dismissed the opposition’s calls for a Cabinet reshuffle as “cheap political manipulation,” when the nation should maintain solidarity and face difficulties together.
DPP Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) said that a change in government personnel would be ill-advised during such a critical period, adding that perhaps it is opposition lawmakers disrupting normal government operations who should be replaced.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS