Within a span of eight months, Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) was promoted from DPP lawmaker to deputy secretary-general of the Presidential Office in May of last year. He has since been promoted again, and will assume the position of Cabinet spokesperson on Feb. 1.
Cho, seen as the top aide and long-time follower of incoming premier Frank Hsieh (
PHOTO: YEH CHIH-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
"Viewing Cho as merely Hsieh's man is not entirely true," said an official with the Presidential Office who asked not to be named.
"President Chen Shui-bian (
In last year's presidential campaign, Cho served as deputy manager of Chen and Vice President Annette Lu's (呂秀蓮) campaign.
Cho's main job was to integrate support of pro-DPP local factions, seek grassroots votes and even solicit support from the opposition, said the official.
"Cho accomplished his job with high efficiency, which met Chen's expectations," the official said. "He therefore won the trust of the president. To cultivate young talent, the president decided to quickly promote Cho," he added.
Noting his hard-working nature, Cho once said "I lost 7kg in three months during the [presidential] campaign."
However, unavoidably, Cho, who still refers to Hsieh as "teacher" in person, has been benefiting from Hsieh's endorsement.
Cho, 49, earned a bachelor's degree in law from National Chunghsing University. During the 1980s, he worked as Hsieh's assistant when Hsieh served as a Taipei City councilor and then as a legislator. Cho's job at the time was to preside over constituency services and campaign activities.
He then served two terms as a Taipei City councilor from 1990-1998 and two terms as a legislator from 1998 to last year.
In 2001, when President Chen became chairman of the DPP and reformed the party, he appointed many young politicians to head the party's departments.
Cho became the head of the party's social development department, taking responsibility for grassroots organization nationwide.
After the presidential inauguration last May, Cho was nominated by Chen as deputy secretary general of the Presidential Office.
Serving as Chen's assistant, Cho's job was to look after domestic affairs, which involved integrating Presidential Office activities with those of civil groups.
In addition, he was also in charge of Chen's local visit itinerary, and assisted him in communicating with academics and other influential people of different fields.
"Since the job suited Cho's background and experience, he did very well," said chairman of the Council of Hakka Affairs and a close friend of Cho -- Luo Wen-jia (
When leaving the presidential office, Cho told reporters "I always keep alert and often sleep in office because Chen or Vice President Lu could need me any time."
Cho also told reporters "I would like to be an MP3 player as Cabinet spokesman," meaning that the government, like music, should communicate with the public in a soft and enjoyable tone, rather than a harsh one.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS