Premier-designate Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced the latest list of deputy ministers who are to take office after the inauguration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德) on May 20.
The list, a mixture of old and new officials, ensures continuity, with officials who have performed well staying on while new blood is injected into the incoming administration, Cho said, adding that the new Cabinet would advance democracy, peace and prosperity.
Representative to France Francois Wu (吳志中) has been tapped to be a deputy foreign minister, joining incumbent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光).
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
As an envoy, Wu is known for his initiative, making high-profile media appearances and bolstering bilateral cooperation with France in business and public health, Cho said.
Deputy ministers of national defense Hsu Yen-pu (徐衍璞) and Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) are to continue in their posts. Hsu was a former commander of the army, executive officer to the deputy chief of the general staff and commander of the Sixth Army Corps, while Po was a deputy executive officer of the Institute for National Defense and Security Research and air force chief of staff.
Former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Huang Shih-chieh (黃世杰) and National Security Bureau Deputy Director-General Hsu Hsi-hsiang (徐錫祥) are to be deputy ministers of justice.
Huang was on the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee and Internal Administration Committee during his stint as a lawmaker, while Hsu Hsi-hsiang had served as a prosecutor and head prosecutor at the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office, head prosecutor at the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office and Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office, and head prosecutor at the High Prosecutors’ Office.
Ho Chin-tsang (何晉滄), director-general of the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, is to be a deputy minister of economic affairs.
Ho will continue his work to sharpen the international competitiveness of Taiwanese small and medium-sized enterprises and advancing the government’s goal to cut carbon emissions, Cho said.
National Development Council Deputy Minister Kao Shien-quey (高仙桂) and Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) have been retained, as well as Overseas Community Affairs Council Deputy Minister Ruan Jhao-syong (阮昭雄) and Veteran Affairs Council Deputy Minister Fu Cheng-cheng (傅正誠).
Ocean Affairs Council Vice Minister Wu Mei-hung (吳美紅) is to remain in her post, with the other vice ministerial post going to Ocean Conservation Administration Director-General Huang Hsiang-wen (黃向文).
Council of Indigenous Peoples Deputy Minister Qucung Qalavangan is to be joined by Land Administration Department Director Du Chang Mei-chuang (杜張梅莊).
National Palace Museum Director Hsiao Tsung-huang (蕭宗煌) and his deputy, Huang Yung-tai (黃永泰), have also been retained.
Meanwhile, former minister of health and welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), Minister of Culture Shih Che (史哲), Taiwan Council for US Affairs Chairperson Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮) and National Taiwan University professor of law Lin Ming-Hsin (林明昕) have been tapped to be ministers without portfolio.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.