President-elect Chen Shui-bian's (
The group was, however, tight-lipped about exactly what was discussed at the meeting and who would be named to the new executive.
Committee leader Lee Yuan-tseh (
Lee stressed to reporters after the meeting that the NPAC was an ad hoc committee and that there had been general talk about national issues, current problems and developments. The economy and cultural issues rated highly, he said.
"We have some consensus on some issues," Lee said, adding there would be more intensive meetings in two or three days to firm up policy and personnel decisions.
The committee announced just two decisions: Firstly, that the NPAC was a temporary structure; secondly, what criteria would be adopted for selecting the premier and other Cabinet members.
This conclusion was announced on behalf of the committee by Nita Ing (
"The NPAC's function is to assist a smooth transition of power and to suggest a suitable Cabinet. It is defined as a non-standing and non-framed organization," Ing said.
She also outlined some basic requirements for the new government executives.
"The candidates [for Cabinet posts] must practice the idea of `government for all people, as well as clean and upright governance (
"We will look at all candidates regardless of their political affiliation. The new government team has to maintain a stable regime," Ing said.
"We won't exclude any candidate who meets these criteria; above all, of course, Lee [Yuan-tseh] is included."
Lee said President-elect Chen, who attended part of the meeting, had talked with its members about national development.
"I am happy we had such a deep discussion," Lee said.
After Chen left the meeting no further headway was made on the make-up of the Cabinet, and Lee would not give away any more clues on whether he would take the post of premier. Both Chen and his advisors, however, are believed to be still trying to persuade him to take on the role.
Stan Shih (
"Although most committee members want Lee, it hasn't [yet] worked out that way. It depends on the person himself [Lee] and whether or not he nods his head in assent," said Academia Sinica sociologist Michael Hsiao (
After the closed-door meeting yesterday, no further questions were taken from the press.
There were 14 members and Chen who attended this first NPAC meeting yesterday.
Other members included: Lee, Ing, Shih, Hisao, former National Security Advisor Chen Pi-chao (
Tseng Chih-lang (
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
‘VERY SHALLOW’: The center of Saturday’s quake in Tainan’s Dongshan District hit at a depth of 7.7km, while yesterday’s in Nansai was at a depth of 8.1km, the CWA said Two magnitude 5.7 earthquakes that struck on Saturday night and yesterday morning were aftershocks triggered by a magnitude 6.4 quake on Tuesday last week, a seismologist said, adding that the epicenters of the aftershocks are moving westward. Saturday and yesterday’s earthquakes occurred as people were preparing for the Lunar New Year holiday this week. As of 10am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) recorded 110 aftershocks from last week’s main earthquake, including six magnitude 5 to 6 quakes and 32 magnitude 4 to 5 tremors. Seventy-one of the earthquakes were smaller than magnitude 4. Thirty-one of the aftershocks were felt nationwide, while 79
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: Taiwan must capitalize on the shock waves DeepSeek has sent through US markets to show it is a tech partner of Washington, a researcher said China’s reported breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI) would prompt the US to seek a stronger alliance with Taiwan and Japan to secure its technological superiority, a Taiwanese researcher said yesterday. The launch of low-cost AI model DeepSeek (深度求索) on Monday sent US tech stocks tumbling, with chipmaker Nvidia Corp losing 16 percent of its value and the NASDAQ falling 612.46 points, or 3.07 percent, to close at 19,341.84 points. On the same day, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Sector index dropped 488.7 points, or 9.15 percent, to close at 4,853.24 points. The launch of the Chinese chatbot proves that a competitor can
RSS