Premier-designate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday announced a slew of further appointments for his new Cabinet as political pundits sought to determine what, if anything, the changes would mean for domestic and cross-strait policy.
Su also insisted he would not become the president's "executive director," in an apparent move to allay concerns raised by a former DPP chairman that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) would keep Su on a short leash.
Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General James Huang (黃志芳) will take over from Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山), reports said yesterday. Mark Chen is expected to be the next Presidential Office secretary-general.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Meanwhile, Government Information Office Minister Pasuya Yao (
Su also announced that Chiu Kun-liang (邱坤良), the current president of the Taipei National University of the Arts, will become Council for Cultural Affairs minister.
Su's remarks yesterday were seen as a move to address concerns from former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) that Su may play the same limited role as as predecessor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), because the president may treat him like an executive director, leaving him little room to maneuver.
Lin, who was DPP chairman from 1998 to 2000, released an open letter on Saturday calling on the president and the future premier to follow the model prescribed in the Constitution that governs their interaction.
Lin also suggested that the president keep a proper distance from Cabinet members and top executives of state-owned enterprises. He blamed the unstable administrative system of the past five years on the DPP government's failure to follow the principles set forth in the Constitution.
Meanwhile, the opposition questioned the new Cabinet's ability to have any significant impact, saying the picks reflected Chen's interests.
Legislator Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛), a KMT legislative caucus whip, said the KMT was disappointed that ideology was still the main concern in Cabinet appointments.
She said the KMT particularly regretted the retention of Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (
Pan added that Tu's educational reform plan had led nowhere, and that as a man obsessed with ideology, he was simply unfit for the job.
"Although Tu has adopted a relatively low profile recently, that does not mean he has changed his mentality and beliefs," she said.
The KMT whip also said that if reports about James Huang becoming the new foreign minister are accurate, it would be another indication that the president wanted someone he could trust to carry out his plans on the diplomatic front.
She added that the opposition would not expect much from the next Cabinet, which is to be sworn in on Wednesday, because Su has already said he would carry out the president's new policy of "active management, effective opening" on cross-strait relations.
Su has retained 12 Cabinet members and replaced nine.
Also see story and editorial:
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