Premier Frank Hsieh (
Premier-designate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and his team will take their oaths of office tomorrow.
Hsieh said that he would most regret not having a chance to file a request to the legislature to re-consider this year's budget proposal and that he did not have a chance to experience the result of the "co-existence" policy that he has been promoting ever since he took office last February.
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
He said that stepping down as premier does not mean the end of "co-existence."
"Although I am now leaving, it does not necessarily mean that this `co-existence' policy failed," he said.
"I will continue to dedicate myself to this country as a civilian," he said.
He stepped down last week to take responsibility for the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) losses in last month's three-in-one local government elections.
Hsieh called a final Cabinet meeting yesterday morning, during which he gave a 15-minute long speech expressing his gratitude to his Cabinet members.
The last official document he signed was the resignation letter for himself and his Cabinet members.
Hsieh, however, did not forget to promote the achievements of his Cabinet, including the new labor insurance mechanism and the Alternative Minimum Taxation (
"I'm so glad that we maintained a perfect balance of steady and regular development of the economy, social justice and environmental protection," he said. "I think my fellow Cabinet members did a good job in reaching those goals."
He said that to examine oneself, one must bow first.
"When you bow, you will hear people's voices a lot clearer," he said. "Cold winter will end soon and warm spring will come after."
Although Hsieh said that he will continue to devote himself to the country by writing, delivering speeches and participating in social activities, Cabinet Secretary-General and Spokesman Cho Jung-tai (
Hsieh declined the offer.
"They [Presidential Office officials] were still calling me and asking whether the premier would accept the offer during the premier's speech in today's Cabinet meeting," Cho said. "Actually, the president first offered his invitation to the premier on Jan. 16. But the premier insisted on going his own way to serve the people."
As for the rumor that Cho would campaign for the year-end Taipei mayor's seat on behalf of the DPP, Cho was coy, saying that a rumor remains a rumor.
"I can only say that I will definitely vote instead of being voted upon," he said.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
RSS