With the new administration beginning May 20, President-elect Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) Cabinet is almost complete, Vice Premier-designate Yu Shyi-kun confirmed yesterday.
Yu said Tsai Ying-wen (蔡英文) is to become chairperson of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and Shea Jia-dong (許嘉棟) the Minister of Finance.
Yu made the announcement of the lineup of the new Cabinet yesterday and confirmed there were only six posts left to fill: the Department of Health, Environmental Protection Administration, National Youth Commission, Council for Economic Planning and Development, Atomic Energy Council and National Sports Council.
Yu said that the still-vacant Cabinet posts would be filled by the end of the month and be announced by Premier-designate Tang Fei (唐飛), who is currently recuperating from an operation for the removal of a thymus gland cyst.
When pressed by reporters to reveal more details, Yu said: "There is no need to keep guessing, all I can tell you is what has been decided."
Most of the names officially confirmed yesterday had already been tipped for the posts by the media.
Tsai's nomination by the president-elect as the head of the MAC had been leaked 10 days ago, but was not officially confirmed until yesterday.
The reason given for the delay was said to be Tang's hesitancy about the appointment, a source said.
Some media reports said that Tsai was in the ad hoc advisory group that drafted the "special state-to-state" interpretation,of cross-strait relations for President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).
However, another source said there was no such group but only informal gatherings of close aides to Lee, and that the "special state-to-state" model was more of a general concept than an elaborately planned strategy.
Shea is currently deputy governor of the Central Bank of China.
"It was my sense of responsibility for society and the country that made me take the post," said Shea at a news conference last night.
Meanwhile, the newly-confirmed head of the Aboriginal Affairs Commission, Yahani Isagagafat (尤哈尼．伊斯卡卡夫特), an Aboriginal rights activist, said that he was taking the new job because he cared about the welfare of his people. He is currently the chief of general affairs at Yushan College of Theology.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
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