The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said it has very low expectations for the new Cabinet, as it is not significantly different from the previous Cabinet, and “exists to serve only the will of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).”
“The Cabinet reshuffle is plain and insignificant, and I am sure many people feel the same way,” KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said on the sidelines of the party’s Lunar New Year festive gathering.
“We are facing many challenges in the post-pandemic era, but the officials who have been put in charge of national security, internal politics, and financial and economic affairs are uninspiring,” he said.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
“Instead of guiding the nation in a specific direction of governing, these officials were appointed based on their loyalty to factions of the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP],” Chu said. “We should not have high expectations for the DPP, as they tend to put the party’s will above the people’s interests.”
Chu criticized incoming premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) for accepting administrative leave from his position at Academia Sinica rather than resigning after he accepted Tsai’s appointment.
“It seems that a Cabinet led by Chen would be served by someone who sees himself as a caretaker until the KMT wins the next election,” Chu said.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
Former KMT chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said the lack of difference between the new and previous Cabinet shows that Tsai has a limited number of people to choose from, and that the DPP has not learned from November’s election losses.
“The DPP lost most of the local elections because it did not listen to the people, yet the new Cabinet was formed to serve Tsai, not to serve the people,” he added.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the KMT said people should give the new Cabinet some time before judging how it performs.
“It is not meaningful to quibble on procedures at Academia Sinica,” DPP legislative caucus director Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said yesterday in response to the criticisms.
“The opposition is making a fuss over Chen’s leave of absence from research work on a suspended salary during his service,” Cheng said.
The opposition always takes biased stances to criticize DPP members accepting government posts, which is not fair, he said.
“Taiwanese have objective views on Chen’s standing in academia, and on his decision to return to politics,” Cheng said.
“Chen has personal warmth. He is just like the ‘noble knight’ in the historical traditions of the Catholic Church,” he added.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to