The Presidential Office announced on September 7 that Wu Den-yih, Kuomintang (KMT) vice chairman and secretary-general, would take over as the Republic of China’s (ROC) premier. On September 9, Wu unveiled his new Cabinet, which includes 10 new members.
The moves followed former Premier Liu Chao-shiuan’s announcement on September 7 that the Cabinet would resign on September 10 to take political responsibility for the government’s response to Typhoon Morakot. “We could have done better in many respects,” Liu said of the government’s work after the typhoon.
The new Cabinet was sworn in later on September 10 at a ceremony at the Presidential Office. President Ma Ying-jeou said the new Cabinet would confront six major challenges: completing post-Morakot reconstruction work, improving disaster prevention systems, working on flood prevention and slope stabilization, reviving the economy, combating the H1N1 virus and working for the passage of critical legislation.
Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi said Wu, 61, was appointed as premier due to his rich party and administrative experience, while Ma expressed hope that Wu’s years of experience as the head of local governments and a legislator would facilitate cooperation between the legislature and the executive branch. After graduating from National Taiwan University (NTU) in Taipei, Wu worked as a journalist before being elected in 1973 at the age of 25 as the youngest member of the Taipei City Council. After serving on the council for eight years, Wu returned to his home in Nantou County, central Taiwan, where he mounted a successful campaign for county magistrate, serving from 1981 to 1989. He was appointed mayor of Kaohsiung City, southern Taiwan, in 1990, then won an election for the post in 1994. He served as a member of the Legislative Yuan from 2002 to 2009. Wu spent his first night as premier in Kaohsiung County where he visited Morakot survivors at their temporary quarters at the ROC Military Academy.
Eric Li-luan Chu, 48, replaced former Vice Premier Paul Chiu and is notable for becoming the youngest vice premier in ROC history. He was an accounting professor at NTU before he became a KMT legislator in 1999. In 2001, Chu was elected as Taoyuan County magistrate, a position to which he was reelected in 2005. As county magistrate, Chu was known for attracting businesses to Taoyuan County, expanding tourism and pushing for the development of a special business zone near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport named Taoyuan Aerotropolis.
In the new Cabinet, Lin Join-sane, former deputy interior minister, replaced Hsieh Hsiang-chuan as secretary-general of the Executive Yuan. Shih Yen-shiang, chairman of CPC Corp. Taiwan, replaced Yiin Chii-ming as economic affairs minister. Jiang Yi-huah, former minister of the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, replaced Liao Liou-yi as interior minister, with Liao taking the position of secretary-general of the Presidential Office. Timothy Chin-tien Yang, the former Taipei Economic and Trade Office representative in Indonesia, replaced Francisco H.L. Ou as foreign minister. Kao Hua-chu, former minister of the Veterans Affairs Commission, replaced Chen Chao-min as defense minister. Wu Ching-ji, Taipei City deputy mayor, replaced Cheng Jei-cheng as education minister. Examination Yuan member Wu Tai-cheng replaced Chen Ching-hsiou as Central Personnel Administration minister. Tseng Jing-ling, president of National Defense University, took over from new Minister of Defense Kao as Veterans Affairs Commission minister. Sun Ta-chuan, a professor at National Chengchi University, replaced Chang Jen-hsiang as Council of Indigenous Peoples minister. Tsai Hsung-hsiung, concurrently minister without portfolio, replaced Chen Tain-jy as minister of the Council for Economic Planning and Development.