Former minister of economic affairs John Deng (鄧振中), who on Tuesday was named a minister without portfolio, is to be responsible for overseeing the nation’s economic and trade negotiations with foreign governments, Executive Yuan spokesman Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said.
Premier Lin Chuan (林全) recommended Deng to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) because he hopes to make use of Deng’s expertise in economic affairs and trade negotiations, Tung said.
Deng has held several important positions in the administrations of former presidents Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), including deputy chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, deputy representative to the WTO, deputy representative to the US, chief representative of the Office of Trade Negotiations, deputy minister of economic affairs and deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council.
He took over the economics portfolio in December 2014 and held it until Ma left office on May 20.
It is widely believed that one of the most important tasks for Deng in his new post would be to assist the government promote the nation’s bid to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
In an interview with the Central News Agency, Deng said that obtaining TPP membership is very important to Taiwan.
The government not only needs to strengthen its communication with the public to find a way of gaining entry that is acceptable to all sides, but also must try to ease the concerns of TPP members and win their support, he said.
Unless these issues are resolved, it will be impossible for Taiwan to join the bloc, he said.
In related news, the Presidential Office on Tuesday said that a national security adviser to Tsai has been appointed deputy secretary-general of the Presidential Office.
Yao Jen-to (姚人多) replaces Tseng Hou-jen (曾厚仁), who is to become deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council.
The decision to transfer Tseng, a former diplomat, to the security council was made as part of Tsai’s efforts to build up the council’s strength in foreign affairs, the Presidential Office said.
Yao has been a key aide to Tsai, assisting her in promoting transitional justice, including apologizing to the nation’s Aborigines, and her promotion represents Tsai’s determination to push related reforms, the office said.
Police have issued warnings against traveling to Cambodia or Thailand when others have paid for the travel fare in light of increasing cases of teenagers, middle-aged and elderly people being tricked into traveling to these countries and then being held for ransom. Recounting their ordeal, one victim on Monday said she was asked by a friend to visit Thailand and help set up a bank account there, for which they would be paid NT$70,000 to NT$100,000 (US$2,136 to US$3,051). The victim said she had not found it strange that her friend was not coming along on the trip, adding that when she
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
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