Outgoing Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) yesterday confirmed that Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), an associate professor of politics at Soochow University, would succeed him as Cabinet spokesman.
Speaking to the Taipei Times via telephone, Chiang said he “was not in a position to say anything before a formal announcement is made and [the appointment] is finalized.”
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) would not confirm the appointment yesterday when he was approached by reporters as he stumped for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Wang Ting-sheng (王廷升) in the Hualien County legislative by-election. Ma said he would announce the appointment once a decision had been made.
A source within the Executive Yuan said Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) had invited Chiang to join the Cabinet about two to three weeks ago.
Born in 1972, Chiang, who obtained a doctoral degree in international studies from the University of South Carolina and a masters in public and international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh, specializes in international political economics and regional economic integration.
Chiang also serves as deputy executive-director of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research’s (TIER) Chinese Taipei APEC Study Center, director of the TIER’s Department of International Affairs and deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Taipei Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, an organization made up of academics, business leaders and government representatives from 25 Pacific Rim economies.
Chiang has published many articles concerning the challenges for the country in the face of growing economic integration, including his PhD dissertation — Globalization and the Role of the State in Contemporary Political Economy: Taiwan and India in the 1980s and 1990s.
The source said Chiang has a wealth of experience to draw upon when he explains to the public the government’s plan to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
A father of two, Chiang is the son-in-law of Liu Shen-liang (劉盛良), a KMT legislator-at-large, and his paternal uncle is Antonio Chiang (江春男), former deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council under the former Democratic Progressive Party government.
Su, who worked closely with KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) during the 2008 presidential election campaign, is to take over as KMT spokesman on Wednesday and prepare for the mayoral elections in the five special municipalities scheduled for December.
News that Su was being replaced came after KMT lawmakers voiced complaints about government spin and poorly explained policy decisions when they met with Ma last month.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS