Denying rumors of a rift, Presidential Office secretary-general-designate Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) and deputy secretary-general-designate Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) yesterday vowed to stand by president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) when he takes over the reins of government on May 20.
Ma announced late on Friday night the appointment of Chan and Yeh after his top aide Steve Chan (詹啟賢), rumored to be a leading candidate for the post of secretary-general, declared that he would not join Ma’s administration on Thursday, sparking concerns over infighting in the Ma camp and the president-elect’s ability to handle personnel issues.
Yeh, a former Taipei deputy mayor, received Ma’s call on Thursday night soon after Steve Chan’s announcement, while Chan Chun-po, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman and Ma’s campaign director, received Ma’s call yesterday morning.
Chan Chun-po, who met Yeh yesterday morning at KMT headquarters to discuss the transfer of power and their future responsibilities, denied rumors of internal conflict in the Ma camp.
“Some of the campaign team members do hold different views, but as a campaign director, I think I did a good job negotiating duties and coordinating their roles,” Chan Chun-po said.
Chan Chun-po, who also serves as convener of the power transfer team, said his priority now was to prepare for the power transfer and presidential inauguration next month.
A 67-year-old ethnic Taiwanese who had served as Ma’s campaign director since Ma first ran for Taipei mayor in 1998, Chan Chun-po is a familiar figure to KMT grassroots supporters and local cliques.
Yeh, 58, is a school friend of Ma from Taipei Jianguo High School and won recognition during the SARS outbreak in Taipei in 2003 with his expertise on health matters.
Yeh joined the KMT primary for the Taipei mayoral election in 2006, but later withdrew from the race after failing to receive Ma’s endorsement. He went on to teach public health at Tzu Chi University in Hualien.
Aside from Chan and Yeh, Ma has only two other confirmed Cabinet members — premier-designate Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) and Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤).
KMT caucus acting secretary-general Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) yesterday urged Ma and Liu to release the full Cabinet lineup as soon as possible to stabilize the political situation and stop further speculation on the issue.
“The guessing game about the Cabinet lineup will not stop if they don’t announce the list. The caucus is hoping to meet with new Cabinet members as soon as possible,” he said.
Luo Chih-chiang (羅智強), spokesman for Ma, said yesterday that Liu would announce the Cabinet lineup tomorrow at the earliest.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
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