Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) settled a minor Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, bringing Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源), an aide to People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), and Cyrus Chu (朱敬一), an academic known for his outspoken criticism of the government’s economic policies, into the Cabinet, as well as a replacement for outgoing Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良).
Lee, a professor of civil engineering at National Taiwan University, gained prominence in 1987 after he was brought in by Soong, then-Taiwan provincial governor, to handle flood prevention and water resources management.
His love life overtook his political career in 2009, when an extramarital affair with Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) led him to offer his resignation as deputy commissioner of Taipei County. During his time with the Taipei County government, Lee was often present when President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) inspected hydraulic engineering projects.
Lee will replace Minister of the Public Construction Commission (PCC) Fan Liang-shiow (范良銹) and double as a minister without portfolio in the Cabinet office, Wu said.
Speaking by telephone, Lee said his priorities included river management, disaster prevention and land-use planning, as the PCC will be partly responsible for development after the government’s reconstruction plan is implemented next year.
Fan, 65, told reporters he was asked to see Wu a few days ago after he expressed his wish to end his 40 years of public service to spend more time with his family and hand over his responsibilities to a younger generation.
While Wu has asked Chu, an academician at Academia Sinica since 1998, to join the Cabinet, Chu has been traveling abroad and had yet to give final consent. He was scheduled to return home last night, Wu said.
Wu would not confirm whether Chu would replace Chang Chin-fu (張進福), minister without portfolio responsible for coordinating technology-related policies and executing the six flagship industries. Chang was appointed by former premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) to create momentum for development in the biotechnology, sophisticated energy, medical care, tourism and innovative culture sectors.
Chu, who has a doctorate in economics from the University of Michigan, recently resigned as chairman of the government-affiliated Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, a position he had held since July 2008.
Chu has often been consulted by Ma on economic issues and has published several newspaper articles critical of the government’s economic policies.
Meanwhile, Wu said Lee Yun-jie (李允傑), a professor of public administration at National Open University, would replace Wang Yu-ting (王昱婷) as National Youth Commission minister, while Luo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪), an attorney and consultant to Ma, would succeed Kao Su-po (高思博) as Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs minister.
Wang and Kao recently offered to resign amid accusations that some Cabinet members had refused to run in a legislative by-election.
Taipei Medical University president Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) has been tapped to succeed Yaung as Department of Health minister, the premier said.
Although there has been speculation that Mainland Affairs Council Minister Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) would be replaced, Wu praised her performance and said she would remain in the Cabinet.
The handover ceremony for the new ministers will be held next Wednesday, Wu said.
Minister Without Portfolio Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) told the Taipei Times by telephone last night that he also wanted to step down because he was tired of the job. At press time, Wu’s office had yet to confirm whether it would accept the resignation
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