The Executive Yuan is to postpone the reorganization of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) into a national science council, which was originally scheduled to launch at the end of this month, a Cabinet official said yesterday.
The council was expected to be the first of the new governmental agencies to be created under the Act for Adjustment of Functions and Organizations of the Executive Yuan (行政院功能業務與組織調整條例), which lawmakers passed in December last year.
The Cabinet has delayed MOST’s reorganization due to complications in personnel appointments stemming from an ongoing effort to create a digital development ministry, an official familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
The appointments for the digital development ministry and the national science council are interlinked and delays in one affect the progress of the other, they said.
Although Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳) is widely considered to be the Cabinet’s favored pick for digital development minister, no decision has been made and none is likely to be made before June, they said.
Minister Without Portfolio Kuo Yau-hwang (郭耀煌) has garnered significant support in his bid to become the digital development minister, but is likely to be offered another post, they said.
A lot of work still needs to be done before the digital development ministry can be activated, especially with regard to personnel transfers and project handoffs, they added.
The Cabinet has not made a decision with regard to the nomination for national science council minister, which would be a minister without portfolio post, they said.
The national science council is envisioned to play a significant role in the entire supply chain of Taiwan’s technology sector instead of wielding influence only upstream, which had been a weakness of the MOST, they said.
The council would coordinate with other ministries and agencies to increase the efficiency of government programs, they said.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS