Fifteen ministers and deputies are to change in the Cabinet reshuffle expected to be announced tomorrow, including the leaders of the National Development Council (NDC) and Ministry of Health and Welfare, sources said today.
Former Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research president and current Academia Sinica researcher Yeh Chun-hsien (葉俊顯) is set to lead the NDC, after the current chief, Liu Chin-ching (劉鏡清), resigned for health reasons, source said.
Yeh has extensive policy experience, having taken a leading role in establishing and evaluating government relief measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, they said.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
In addition, National Health Insurance Administration Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) is to lead the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the sources said.
Shih has a background as a clinical physician and previously served as deputy health minister.
When former NHIA director-general Lee Po-chang (李伯璋) stepped down following a scandal, Shih took over the agency and performed well in the role, leading to the appointment, the sources said.
Several other Cabinet personnel changes were revealed on Friday last week, including Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Xavier Chang (張惇涵) replacing Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) as Executive Yuan secretary-general, while Kung is to replace Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝), who resigned on Thursday last week.
Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-jing (林宜敬) would be promoted to lead the ministry, with current minister Huang Yen-nun (黃彥男) set to return to conducting research at Academia Sinica.
Taiwan Artificial Intelligence Academy Foundation secretary-general Hou Yi-hsiu (侯宜秀) is to serve as the new deputy minister, the sources said.
Overseas Community Affairs Council Deputy Minister Ruan Jhao-syong (阮昭雄) is to become Executive Yuan deputy secretary-general, they said.
Meanwhile, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) and Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) are expected to remain in their roles.
Two-time Olympic badminton champion Lee Yang (李洋) is rumored to be named the nation’s first-ever minister of sports when the new ministry opens on Sept. 9.
Sports Administration Director Cheng Shih-chung (鄭世忠) and Taiwan Institute of Sports Science chief Huang Chi-huang (黃啟煌) are expected to serve as deputy ministers of sport.
Baseball star Chen Yi-hsin (陳義信) would also serve as deputy minister of the Council of Indigenous Peoples, sources said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
RSS