Executive Yuan spokesman Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) is to be the nation’s new minister of transportation and communications, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) announced yesterday.
Chen is to succeed former transport minister Li Meng-yen (李孟諺), who resigned on Tuesday last week after his decade-long extramarital affair was revealed on an online forum.
“Chen followed government officials in inspecting infrastructure damage caused by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck off Hualien on April 3 and Typhoon Gaemi earlier this month. He knows the challenges the new government faces,” Cho told a news conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“We have observed how Chen worked and his ability to quickly grasp the fundamental questions in various issues. President William Lai (賴清德) and I think that Chen can handle the job,” Cho added.
Having served as Taichung city councilor for many years, Chen is also well-informed about the problems with local transportation systems, Cho said.
“I am confident his expertise in politics and corporate management also prepares him to select the right people for different tasks, run the transportation ministry efficiently and take the ministry forward,” he said.
Chen is scheduled to take office on Monday next week.
Julia Hsieh (謝子涵), who serves as the Executive Yuan deputy spokesperson, is to temporarily serve as spokesperson.
Chen was appointed because of his grasp of government policies and his ability to communicate with the media and among government officials, a source familiar with the matter said.
He is a great communicator and is “able to translate policies that are often difficult to understand and convey them clearly to the public,” the source said. “He is also capable of communicating and coordinating among government agencies, and in so doing government policies can be implemented smoothly.”
The appointment of Chen, who does not have an academic background in transportation, shows that the new Cabinet seeks to introduce transportation policy reforms that make a difference to people’s lives, without being confined to the opinions of so-called “experts,” the source said.
During his time in Taichung, Chen asked the city government to plan ahead the transit system before the Taichung MRT system would be completed, including public bus and public bike services.
However, Chen’s appointment drew mixed reactions.
“The Cabinet would have to convince the public that Chen has the expertise and the ability to run the transportation ministry, which has an annual budget of about NT$60 billion [US$1.88 billion],” said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷), who previously served as convener of the legislature’s Transportation Committee.
Chen does not have transportation-related experience, National Drivers’ Alliance chairman Liu Hung-chang (劉鴻樟) said.
“There is a lot to learn about transportation, and Li and acting transportation minister Chen Yen-po (陳彥伯) could assume the post because they have accumulated significant administrative experience,” Liu said. “While I recognize that the Democratic Progressive Party is willing to groom young politicians for public office, I am not sure Chen is ready for such an important job and he might feel overwhelmed.”
Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance board director Lo Yi (羅宜) said that whoever serves as minister must be able to consolidate issues involved in policies and communicate with different interest groups.
“We welcome such an appointment so long as the new minister is willing to tackle transportation issues using people-oriented approaches. He should continue to communicate with driver’s rights and pedestrian rights groups before stipulating any new policy. We still have a long way to go in reducing casualties caused by traffic accidents,” Lo said.
SCENARIOS: A potential conflict with Beijing would not be similar to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China would target energy and food supplies, a researcher said China is likely to continue using economic and cyberoperations against Taiwan to force it to capitulate without resorting to a military attack, Fox News reported yesterday, citing the outcome of a tabletop exercise. Washington-based think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) earlier this month held a tabletop exercise in Taipei focusing on Beijing’s use of economic and cybercoercion against Taiwan. The FDD mentioned an “anaconda strategy,” in which Beijing would likely use cyberwarfare and disinformation campaigns followed by a blockade or other measures to strangulate Taiwan, rather than attempting an invasion, the report said. A large-scale cyberattack would be
HSINCHU CASES: Five people among 35 who were reported being sick were still in hospital after eating at a vendor in a market in Jhubei, the local health agency said Thirty-five people have sought medical treatment for acute symptoms after allegedly eating banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) from a vendor in Jhubei City (竹北), the Hsinchu County Public Health Bureau said yesterday. The bureau said that since Saturday, it has received several reports of suspected food poisoning from hospitals. The vendor has been ordered to temporarily suspend its business, it said, adding that tests were being conducted to determine whether the people had food poisoning, with results expected in about two weeks. A preliminary investigation showed that the people who sought treatment had recently eaten banh mi at a vendor at a retail market
GOOD MODEL: Speaking at his book launch, Law said that Taiwan is the most democratic Chinese-speaking country, which is why Hong Kongers relocated here China has suffocated Hong Kong’s civil society and its next target could be Taiwan, Nathan Law (羅冠聰), cofounder of the disbanded pro-democracy Hong Kong political party Demosisto, said in Taipei yesterday. Law made the remarks at a launch in Taipei for his book When the Wind Blows — the Struggles for Freedom of Hong Kong (時代推著我們前行:羅冠聰的香港備忘錄). Law has been living in the UK since he fled Hong Kong in 2020, and the book is about his fighting for the cause of freedom in the area. He was granted political asylum in 2021. “Fleeing is a long and distressing process, but it also
IMITATING OTHERS? Tsai Ing-wen’s office said the former president rents a commercial unit for her personal office and had never used election funds to purchase real estate Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday confirmed that he used about NT$43 million (US$1.35 million) from his presidential election subsidy to purchase an office unit near the Legislative Yuan in May. Ko made the remarks after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) earlier in the day told a news conference that she received a tip-off that the TPP chairman had purchased a 48.76 ping (161.2m2) office unit at Jinan Building (濟南大樓), a commercial building in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正). Lin said that Ko purchased the unit on May 10, paying about NT$43 million in cash,