Kaohsiung Mayor and premier-designate Frank Hsieh (
"We have many ideas in common. Chen is also a Kaohsiung native, so I have nominated him to fill the post that I will leave vacant," Hsieh said.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Hsieh yesterday appointed Albert Lin (林耀文), the director-general of the Kaohsiung City Government's department of information, as special assistant to the premier.
Hsieh said he was communicating with President Chen Shui-bian (
The president departs today on the five-day trip to Palau and the Solomon Islands.
Speaking on his appointment as acting mayor for the southern special municipality, Chen Chi-mai told reporters that "stability, negotiation and progress" were the three principles with which he would run Kaohsiung. His appointment is widely seen as confirmation that he will be the Democratic Progressive Party's candidate for Kaohsiung mayor next year.
The new Cabinet will take office on Tuesday.
Hsieh said "the Cabinet line-up will be finalized in two days," adding that he will be in contact with the president during his trip, and that "it is alright" if the president announces the vice premier during this time.
"Changes to the Cabinet will be small," Hsieh said. "The real reshuffling of the Cabinet may take place six months from now."
"Minor adjustments to the Cabinet will leave some room for reconciliation between the government and the opposition alliance," he said.
Hsieh said that delaying substantial change was justified because some members of the Cabinet had joined only recently. In addition, other members of Cabinet needed time to decide if they will be running in the mayoral and county commissioner elections at the end of the year, he said.
Hsieh said May was a good month to make these changes.
Asked about the identity of the next vice premier, Hsieh said he or she would not necessarily be from a financial or economics background.
"Because [Premier] Yu Shyi-kun's Cabinet has done well improving the economic situation, the new Cabinet will focus more on negotiations and dialogue with the opposition and China," he added.
Reports suggest that Chen Chi-mai's replacement might be the only significant new appointment to the new Cabinet.
Chinese-language newspapers have speculated that Vice Minister of Justice Morley Shih (
Shih would replace Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (
Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyuan (
Also see story:
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
RSS