The Cabinet has tapped former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Charles Chiang (江昭儀) to take up the politically appointed vice chairman's post at the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) -- a position left vacant since Lu Daung-yen (呂東英) was made the body's acting head in August 2006.
Facing a term of just more than three months, Chiang yesterday vowed to carry out his tasks to the best of his abilities.
"The premier's office has talked to me about taking over the post, but nothing has been finalized yet," Chiang told the Taipei Times in a telephone interview yesterday.
But Government Information Office Minister Shieh Jhy-wey (
The commission, however, said that it was not aware of Chiang's appointment.
Commission administrative vice chairwoman Susan Chang (張秀蓮) yesterday told reporters that, although the nomination was within the Cabinet's and the president's power, "the commission hasn't been informed."
She said all vacancies, including a replacement for former member Lin Chung-cheng (林忠正), whose term also ends in three months, should be filled as soon as possible to ensure the commission's smooth operation.
The appointment came four days ahead of Saturday's presidential election, which will put Chang's Cabinet in a caretaker role until a new government is formed on May 20.
Chang said last Tuesday that neither civil servants nor politically appointed officials would be reshuffled between the election and May 20.
When questioned by reporters about the appropriateness of the appointment, Chang yesterday defended its legitimacy.
"The decision was made in accordance with the Civil Service Employment Act (
Once his appointment is finalized, Chiang will replace Lu and serve the remainder of Lu's four-year term, which began in July 2004 and ends on June 30 this year.
Chiang said he would use his 30 years of accounting experience to help beef up the commission's regulation of the banking and securities sectors.
He said that he was familiar with the commission's affairs, as he had been a member of the legislature's finance committee, which oversees the commission, for several years.
Chiang, 64, was elected as a legislator for two terms between 2001 and February this year after serving as a member of the now defunct National Assembly.
Certified as a financial accountant in the US, Chiang holds a master's degree in economics from the University of Memphis, Tennessee.
Before returning to Taiwan, Chiang was a long-standing member of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, headquartered in Washington, and chaired the DPP's US headquarters.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) yesterday said that Intel Corp would find itself in the same predicament as it did four years ago if its board does not come up with a core business strategy. Chang made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions about the ailing US chipmaker, once an archrival of TSMC, during a news conference in Taipei for the launch of the second volume of his autobiography. Intel unexpectedly announced the immediate retirement of former chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger last week, ending his nearly four-year tenure and ending his attempts to revive the
WORLD DOMINATION: TSMC’s lead over second-placed Samsung has grown as the latter faces increased Chinese competition and the end of clients’ product life cycles Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) retained the No. 1 title in the global pure-play wafer foundry business in the third quarter of this year, seeing its market share growing to 64.9 percent to leave South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co, the No. 2 supplier, further behind, Taipei-based TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report. TSMC posted US$23.53 billion in sales in the July-September period, up 13.0 percent from a quarter earlier, which boosted its market share to 64.9 percent, up from 62.3 percent in the second quarter, the report issued on Monday last week showed. TSMC benefited from the debut of flagship
A former ASML Holding NV employee is facing a lawsuit in the Netherlands over suspected theft of trade secrets, Dutch public broadcaster NOS said, in the latest breach of the maker of advanced chip-manufacturing equipment. The 43-year-old Russian engineer, who is suspected of stealing documents such as microchip manuals from ASML, is expected to appear at a court in Rotterdam today, NOS reported on Friday. He is accused of multiple violations of the sanctions legislation and has been given a 20-year entry ban by the Dutch government, the report said. The Dutch company makes machines needed to produce high-end chips that power
As South Korea descends into political chaos, its equity market risks falling further behind major tech rival Taiwan, which is basking in the glory of a global artificial intelligence (AI) boom. A near-30 percent surge in Taiwan’s stock benchmark this year, set to be the best since 2009, has already helped spur a historic divergence between Asia’s two tech-dominated markets. The nation’s market capitalization now exceeds South Korea’s by about US$950 billion as the world’s AI frontrunners from Nvidia Corp and Microsoft Corp to OpenAI all increasingly turn to Taiwanese firms for supply. Looking ahead to next year, while both export-oriented economies