With the lunar new year still fresh in memory, Premier Vincent Siew appointed seven new members on 5 February to an "action cabinet."

Five months after minor changes last September, Premier Vincent Siew has reshuffled the cabinet again. Interior minister Yeh Chin-fong has been shifted to deputy secretary-general of the Kuomintang. Replacing her is legislator Huang Chu-wen. Minister of Education Wu Jin has been replaced by university professor Lin Ching-jiang. Chiao Jen-ho, former vice-chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation, has taken the place of James Chu as chairman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission. Replacing Hsu Chieh-kwei as chairman of the Council of Labor Affairs is Chan Huo-sheng. Vice-Premier Liu Chao-shiuan resigned his concurrently held post of chairman of the National Science Council. Taking his place is Hwang Jenn-tai, president of Fengchia University. Lee Chi-chu is the new National Youth Commission chairwoman, replacing Huang Teh-fu. David Lee has moved from director-general of the Government Information Office to vice-foreign minister, while former vice-foreign minister Chen Chien-jen now heads the GIO.

The most controversial cabinet change was the removal of the popular Wu Jin. Wu was an activist minister of education and often surprised people by his actions, such as the decision to admit females to a military training center for college freshmen. Wu came to be called "the ideas man." His educational reform blitz included vigorous efforts to put an end to separation of students according to ability, abolish high school entrance examinations, and establish more flexible admissions policies. His "full-speed ahead" style was criticized, however, by some who considered his policies uncoordinated and too far-reaching.

Wu Jin continues to generate debate now that he has been removed from office. Many educational reform groups give Wu high praise for his willingness to challenge the old system. They worry that his replacement, Lin Ching-jiang (from the field of teacher training), will initiate a conservative rollback. Most legislators, regardless of party affiliation, give a generally positive appraisal of Wu Jin's performance.

However, Lee Yuan-tseh, president of the Academia Sinica and a former senior official at the Council on Education Reform, is more critical, and argues that current educational reform policies will bog down two years from now. Lee feels that Lin Ching-jiang, as a former member of the Council on Education Reform, thoroughly understands educational reform and has a sophisticated grasp of the deficiencies of Taiwan's education system. Lee suggests that Lin will promote educational reform in a steady, careful manner.

Although Lin Ching-jiang is under the heat of intense public scrutiny, he displays considerable self-confidence. He has declared that educational reform is not about swashbuckling heroism, but about long-term commitment. He intends to implement smaller class sizes by the year 2006, and emphasizes that the Ministry of Education will place high priority on adult education. He also states that it will be necessary to proceed cautiously with the elimination of senior high school entrance examinations. This position has drawn protests from education reform groups and parent-teacher associations.

Also controversial was the replacement of Yeh Chin-fong as minister of the interior by Huang Chu-wen. The removal of the first woman interior minister drew fire from the Modern Women's Foundation and the Sexual Abuse Protection Center. Even more controversial, however, was the decision to name Huang Chu-wen as her replacement. At the National Development Conference, Huang was a major proponent of freezing provincial elections. Since becoming minister of the interior he has worried the provincial government by stating, "The provincial government was established by the central government, and has no status as an independent legal entity." He has also criticized prosecutors and police for insufficient coordination, and charged that prosecutors sometimes hinder the fight against crime. These statements have created tension between prosecutors and the police. Huang Chu-wen says his goal as minister of the interior is to fight crime, not to downsize the provincial government.

Labor groups have marched in protest against the views of Chan Huo-sheng, the academic named as chairman of the Council of Labor Affairs. The protesters demanded implementation of the labor policies of his predecessors Hsieh Shen-san and Hsu Chieh-kwei. With regard to retirement pension legislation, Chan's views on funding sources and insurance schemes are different from those of Hsu Chieh-kwei. Chan is not sure that it will be possible, as promised by Hsu, to pass legislation by June 1998 and implement a new retirement system in July. The labor community is worried that Chan may change the policies of his predecessors or delay their implementation. On his first day in office Chan Huo-sheng visited an indigenous minority community and spoke of the need to prevent foreign labor from adversely affecting the income of Taiwan's ethnic minorities. He also promised to begin an unemployment insurance program by the end of the year. The implementation of labor policies will be watched closely.

In leaving the Straits Exchange Foundation to become chairman of the OCAC, Chiao Jen-ho hopes to include the overseas Chinese community in the debate on independence versus reunification. Chen Chien-jen, director-general of the Government Information Office, plans to pay special attention to Taiwan's cable television dispute, reciprocal news reporting across the Taiwan Strait, and the effort to establish Taiwan as an Asia-Pacific media center.

The freshest faces in the new cabinet are Hwang Jenn-tai, (chairman of the National Science Council) and Lee Chi-chu (National Youth Commission chairwoman). Hwang Jenn-tai plans to promote development of science and technology from a long-term perspective, and emphasizes the importance of human issues. Professor Lee Chi-chu stresses the need to create employment opportunities for youth.

This reshuffling should bring new vitality to the cabinet, but the public is critical. An opinion poll gave the cabinet a 42% approval rating, down sharply from the 61% of last August. News media have criticized the fact that several members were removed after having served for less than a year.

The new cabinet faces many challenges in international relations, cross-strait relations, and law and order. The public is watching to see how well the cabinet responds.