Minister of Education Ovid Tzeng (
Tzeng dismissed Lin yesterday and offered him a position as councilor to the ministry. But Lin would not accept the demotion and said he would submit an application for retirement on Monday.
"To maintain the internal harmony of the ministry and facilitate the implementation of education reforms, I have decided to change the post of Vice Minister Lin, transferring him to the position of councilor," Tzeng said yesterday.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
In addition, the minister said he had reprimanded Vice Minister of Education Fan Sun-lu (
Tzeng yesterday refused to comment on speculation concerning Lin's successor, only saying that the candidate should have a positive public image, be a good team player and be keen about education reforms.
The minister said he would make his decision soon.
Lin Yu-ti (
Lin, who learned of the minister's decision from reporters yesterday, said that he didn't intend to go back to his former job as councilor to the education ministry.
"I have worked as a councilor [to the ministry] before. [The minister's] new arrangements for me do not allow me any space to progress ? I am going to file an application for retirement on Monday," said the 63-year-old Lin, who has been on leave since the row with Fan began earlier this week.
Lin said he felt "carefree" after being relieved of his official duties after more than 40 years of service.
On Monday, the two vice ministers engaged in a war of words after Fan publicly insinuated that Lin was involved in the financial scandal surrounding the private Jin-Wen Institute of Technology (
Lin has come under suspicion because he lives in a villa in the Ta Hsueh Shih Hsiang (
Reports say Lin bought the residence in 1996 at an amount far below the market price.
Tzeng said that one reason why he replaced Lin instead of Fan was because Lin had failed to allay public apprehension as to his role in the financial scandal, despite his explanations.
In his defense, Lin said that the mere fact that he had purchased a home in the Ta Hsueh Shih Hsiang community did not mean he was guilty of wrongdoing.
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are
LOOKING FOR WHEELS: The military is seeking 8x8 single-chassis vehicles to test the new missile and potentially replace the nation’s existing launch vehicles, the source said Taiwan is developing a hypersonic missile based on the Ching Tien (擎天) supersonic cruise missile, and a Czech-made truck has been tentatively selected as its launch vehicle, a source said yesterday. The Ching Tien, formerly known as Yun Feng (雲峰, “Cloud Peak”), is a domestically developed missile with a range of 1,200km to 2,000km being deployed in casemate-type positions as of last month, an official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The hypersonic missile to be derived from the Ching Tien would feature improved range and a mobile launch platform, while the latter would most likely be a 12x12 single chassis
UP AND DOWN: The route would include a 16.4km underground section from Zuoying to Fongshan and a 9.5km elevated part from Fongshan to Pingtung Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday confirmed a project to extend the high-speed rail (HSR) to Pingtung County through Kaohsiung. Cho made the announcement at a ceremony commemorating the completion of a dome at Kaohsiung Main Station. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications approved the HSR expansion in 2019 using a route that branches off a line from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung’s Zuoying District (左營). The project was ultimately delayed due to a lack of support for the route. The Zuoying route would have trains stop at the Zuoying Station and return to a junction before traveling southward to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝).
Parts of the nation, including in the south, could experience temperatures as low as 7°C early tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. A strong continental cold air mass coupled with the effect of radiative cooling would bring cold weather to several northern cities and counties, and could even affect areas as far south as Tainan early tomorrow, the CWA said. Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties would experience temperatures below 10°C until this evening, according to cold surge advisories issued by the weather agency. The weather across the nation is forecast to remain
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