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.
The coast guard drove away 567 Chinese boats and seized seven illegally operating in Taiwanese waters in the first six months of this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. They mostly operated near Kinmen and Penghu counties, resulting in fines totaling NT$1.7 million (US$52,440), it said. Three ships — two near Kinmen County and one near Penghu County — were detained in January for illegally crossing the border, while one ship each was detained near Kinmen in February and Penghu in March respectively, it said. The ship seized near Penghu in January was the Yun Ao (雲澳), detained by the CGA’s
Military photovoltaic projects have been found to have used Chinese-made devices blacklisted by the government, including Huawei Technologies Co routers, the Ministry of National Defense’s Armaments Bureau said on Thursday. An ongoing investigation has identified the illegal use of 128 current transformers, two routers and a data reader at the Hungchailin Army Base, Pinghai Navy Base and Tri-Service General Hospital’s Songshan branch, it said. The devices were manufactured in the Chinese factories of German solar energy equipment supplier SMA Solar Technology, Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Delta Electronics Co, Chinese electronics manufacturer Huawei and Taiwanese industrial PC maker Advantech Co, the bureau said. The bureau’s
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
Beijing’s recent provocative actions against the Philippines in the South China Sea were partly meant as a “dress rehearsal” for the invasion of Taiwan, former US deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger said at a Heritage Foundation forum in Washington on Tuesday. Beijing’s blocking of a Philippine resupply mission on June 17 with unprecedented violence had multiple implications. “What they’re doing is trying to demonstrate that they can blockade, create a sense of futility and discredit the idea that the United States is going to help not only the Philippines, but by extension Taiwan,” Pottinger said. Pottinger was referring to a clash