Former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) specially appointed deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) resigned for “family reasons,” and the council’s deputy minister, Lin Chu-chia (林祖嘉) was appointed to Chang’s position, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday.
Chang also resigned as vice chairman and secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation, a position he held concurrently since February when the semi-official agency’s deputy head Kao Koong-lain (高孔廉) left the job.
A meeting of the foundation’s boards and supervisors is to be convened to approve appointments for vice chairman and secretary-general, with Lin and another vice chairman of the foundation, Ma Shaw-chang (馬紹章), speculated to be possible candidates.
Lin, who has a degree from the Department of Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles, was previously a professor of economics at National Chengchi University. He was in charge of issues related to cross-strait trade and economic and regional economic integration since he was appointed the council’s deputy minister in November 2012.
Since then, he was involved in negotiations with China leading to the signing of the cross-strait service trade agreement in June last year.
The Chinese-language United Daily Evening News reported yesterday that Chang decided to quit to look after his aged mother in his hometown in Greater Taichung.
Foundation Deputy Secretary-General Shih Hui-fen (施惠芬) was appointed to fill the position left vacant by Lin, the Executive Yuan said in a statement, which included other reshuffles to the Ministry of Education and the Council of Hakka Affairs.
Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages president Lucia Lin (林思伶) is to succeed Chen Der-hwa (陳德華) as deputy minister of education, and Council of Hakka Affairs Department of Culture and Education Director Fan Tso-ming (范佐銘) was promoted to deputy minister of the council, the statement said.
The position of labor minister was not yet filled after Pan Shi-wei (潘世偉) resigned over allegations of an extramarital affair three weeks ago, the statement added.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
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
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
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