Premier-designate William Lai (賴清德) yesterday finalized the Cabinet reshuffle, adding only a handful of new faces while retaining the majority of ministers.
Only two ministers are being replaced: National Development Council Minister Chen Tain-jy (陳添枝) will today be replaced by Cabinet Secretary-General Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) and Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) is to become the new Financial Supervisory Commission chairman, Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said.
Koo’s vacancy is to be filled by National Security Council adviser Lin Feng-jeng (林?正), Hsu said.
Acting Minister of Economic Affairs Sheng Jong-chin (沈榮津) is to be promoted to minister and National Development Council Deputy Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) is to be named Shen’s deputy.
Lai has named Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (台灣證交所) chairman Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉) as the next vice premier and Democratic Progressive Party Deputy Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) as the next Cabinet secretary-general.
All other ministers are to remain at their posts, including Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮), Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維), Minister of National Defense Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬), Minister of Finance Sheu Yu-jer (許虞哲), Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠), Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san (邱太三), Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦), Minister of Labor Lin Mei-chu (林美珠), Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) Environmental Protection Administration Minister Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), Council of Agriculture Minister Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢), Mainland Affairs Council Minister Katharine Chang (張小月), Overseas Community Affairs Council Minister Wu Hsin-hsing (吳新興), Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod and Hakka Affairs Council Minister Lee Yong-te (李永得).
The ministers without portfolio are Lin Wan-i (林萬億), Chang Ching-sen (張景森), Chen Mei-ling, Hsu Chang-yao (許璋瑤), John Deng (鄧振中), Audrey Tang (唐鳳), Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) and Wu Hong-mo (吳宏謀). All are incumbents, except for Chen Mei-ling.
CGA Director-General Lee Chung-wei (李仲威), Veterans Affairs Council Director Lee Shying-jow (李翔宙), Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Minister Chu Tzer-ming (朱澤民), Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Minister Jay Shih (施能傑), Public Construction Commission Minister Wu Hong-mo (吳宏謀) and Atomic Energy Council Minister Hsieh Shou-shing (謝曉星) are also to remain.
However, Deputy Minister of Labor Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) is to leave for personal reasons.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
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DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and