Amid scathing criticism from oppositon and ruling party lawmakers regarding Christine Tsung's (宗才怡) competancy and calls for her resignation after only a month on the job, it goes without saying that newly appointed economics minister needs to ante up now and demonstrate whether or not she's capable of the task.
Tsung's remarkably poor performance before lawmakers during her first appearance at the Legislative Yuan earlier this week -- and her continuing failure to clearly explain the details of how she intends to make the economy "take off" within two years -- aren't inspiring much confidence in a nation that has endured a slowing economy for over a year.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Further clouding hopes that Tsung will rise to the task is her dearth of experience in participating in Taiwan's economic affairs on a national level, coupled with the political overtones behind her appointment by the DPP.
However, former economics minister and now Vice Premier Lin Hsin-yi (
"The ministry must manage industry, trade, investment, small and medium-sized enterprises, water, electricity, oil and gas and land development ... With such a wide scope of responsibility, to absorb all of this within, month is extremely difficult," Lin told lawmakers yesterday.
"Minister Tsung hasn't yet had time to learn all of the details of the ministry's briefs ... to be fair we should give her more time to understand Taiwan's economic situation."
Premier Yu Shyi-kun told law-makers earlier this week that Tsung might need between three and four months to get a handle on the job, helping to quiet some of the DPP voices that have called for Tsung's resignation.
Wang Tuoh (
Despite being named late last year as the world's 10th most powerful woman in international business by Fortune magazine and as a person to watch this year by the same publication in January, Tsung until now has had no experience in managing national economic affairs.
Having lived in the US for the better part of three decades, Tsung served as the finance director from 1982 to 1995 for the small city of Poway in California. She also served as president of China Airlines Co (
Although she is a close friend of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Tseng denied reports that she and her husband, head of the First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) Jerome Chen (陳建隆) contributed funds to Chen's presidential campaign.
But according to Hsu Chen-ming (
"Small, local financial problems have nothing to do with regional economic development or foreign trade and foreign investment problems ... it's totally different," he said.
Hsu doubts that even after three months Tsung will have proven she is up to the task. "She is not qualified for this job," Hsu said. "Tsung has had no experience with public administration on a national scale and she has remained abroad for a long time. I doubt that she is at all familiar with the function of the economics ministry."
Others say Tsung should be given a chance.
"Minister Tsung should be given the benefit of the doubt. She should be given a fair go," said Richard Henson, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei.
"Taiwan is facing very, very tough economic challenges, and to tear down a minister rather than support [her on] the difficult road ahead is the wrong way to go," he said.
Pointing out that with Taiwan's economy is only beginning to show signs of a recovery, Hsu said that the timing of placing a questionable candidate as the head of the ministry was a poor decision.
"The economy is not so good at this moment and we need a strong minister to handle such problems," Hsu said. "Tsung has no plan, she does not know how to handle the economy or how to reach her goals of an economic growth rate of 3.5 percent," he said.
At least one foreign business leader, who declined to be named, appeared to agree.
"There is a reason she's taking a lambasting in the press," he said. "The foreign business community has a tremendous sense of urgency in fixing the problems of the economy. We don't feel the government has that same sense of urgency.
"Business does not work by political schedules. Taiwan's national security rests on its economic strength. The economics ministry portfolio is the gem in the crown of the government ministries. You need very strong leadership coming from there," he said.
While Tsung reportedly spent a break during harsh legislative interpellation crying in the ladies room - not exactly a picture of strong leadership - it would seem unfair to be too quick in calling for her to exit the stage.
Opposition lawmakers afterall can be an ornery bunch to the uninitiated and lack of poise under fire doesn't necessarily mean an individual is devoid of the more refined strategem.
However, if Tsung can't produce the goods sometime in the near future then calls for this eventuality are only going to grow, on both sides of the political fence.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US