President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) announced a minor reshuffle of senior officials last night, a move DPP brass say is aimed at preparing for the 2004 presidential election.
"It is obvious that Chen has already drawn up his presidential campaign schedule and that he is putting his top strategist in the appropriate post to provide assistance and lead his campaign staff," DPP lawmaker Hong Chi-chang (洪奇昌) told the Taipei Times.
In the reshuffle, current National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (
A Presidential Office news release announcing the changes said that Chen Shih-meng will be invited to serve as a senior adviser to the president.
Vice Minister of National Defense Kang Ning-hsiang (
Chiou is regarded as the DPP's top strategist and a seasoned politician with experience in important posts in government and the party.
"Chiou is the best consultant to head any organization. Leaders always need to consult him," DPP legislative caucus leader Chen Chi-mai (
Chiou has been dubbed "the permanent secretary-general," with his previous posts including secretary-general of the DPP, secretary-general to the premier and secretary-general of the NSC. He will become Presidential Office secretary-general on Feb. 1.
The Presidential Office recently denied reports that President Chen planned to reshuffle the four major secretary generalships: those of the Cabinet, the DPP, the NSC and the Presidential Office.
Sources at the Presidential Office told the Taipei Times that Chen Shih-meng will also be assigned to serve as superintendent of the DPP's Ketagalan Academy (凱達格蘭學院), which will be established after the Lunar New Year.
This institute is the brainchild of President Chen, also the DPP's chairman, and is expected to nurture politically adept officials for roles in the DPP administration.
Kang, 65, is the country's first true civilian ministerial-level official in the Ministry of National Defense. He was promoted to vice minister on June 1 last year, after nine years as a member of the Control Yuan, where he specialized in defense. He had previously been a lawmaker for 12 years, during which he spent a great deal of time on military affairs.
Lin, former vice chairman of the Cabinet's Mainland Affairs Council and currently a senior adviser to the NSC and a professor at National Sun Yat-sen University, is a well known cross-strait affairs analyst.
He enjoys a strong reputation in both political and academic circles for his in-depth research on the People's Liberation Army and his ability to forecast internal changes in China and developments in cross-strait relations.
Meanwhile, Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday appointed General Teng Chu-lin (鄧祖琳), director of the Ministry of National Defense's Political Warfare Bureau, as the new chairman of the Veterans Affairs Commission, effective Feb. 1.
Yu approved on Monday the resignation of outgoing commission chairman Yang Teh-chih (
Yu expressed his gratitude for Yang's contribution over the past 32 months and praised Teng's extensive military experience, which he said is necessary for his new job.
"I believe he'll do a good job in taking care of the lives of veterans who have spent the golden years of their lives serving the country," Yu said.
Teng, 61, has served as the commander-in-chief of the army's airborne troop command and the army's sixth legion, the deputy commander of the ROC army and vice chief of the general staff of the Ministry of National Defense. He has also served as the principal of the Chung Cheng Armed Forces Preparatory School and the Political Warfare College.
Yu also took the opportunity to dismiss media reports that he had originally planned to appoint a civilian to head the commission.
"Although most civilized and democratic countries have civilians leading the armed forces or veterans' associations, no existing rules stipulate that the head of the commission should be a civilian," Yu said. "I thought it might be a better idea to have someone who knows a lot about the military and who knows how to take care of its needs."
Yu added that it does not mean that civilians will not be able to break into the unit.
"I can see a civilian heading the commission in the future when the national defense system completes its reform and the administration becomes politically neutral," he said.
Yu also dismissed media speculation that the Cabinet would soon be reshuffled to replace officials in charge of finance.
"I've never given it any thought," he said. "My idea is that stability outweighs everything else."
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
RSS