To coincide with the next legislative general session, which begins on February 1, a new cabinet was formed in January. Members include: Premier Yu Shyi-kun; Vice-Premier and head of the cabinet's Council for Economic Planning and Development Lin Hsin-I; ministers without portfolio Chiou I-jen, Huang Hwei-chen, Chen Chi-nan and Lin Sheng-feng; Secretary-General Li Ying-yuan; Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien; Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien; Minister of Defense Tang Yao-ming; Minister of Education Huang Jung-tsun; Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Lin-san; Minister of Finance Lee Yung-shan; Minister of Economic Affairs Christine Tsung; and Director of the Central Personnel Administration Lee Yi-yang.

The director-general of the Government Information Office (GIO) is Ye Hsing-kuo, and the position of government spokesperson has been created, held by Executive Yuan advisor Chuang Suo-hang. In the future the director-general of the GIO will only be responsible for administrative affairs and will not have to perform the task of explaining government policies to the media.

Premier-designate Yu Shyi-kun said at a press conference that the challenge now facing the Executive Yuan is to accomplish as much as possible by selecting the best personnel, using the fewest resources, and carrying out effective research and management. Yu has set a goal of becoming a globally competitive, vibrant government, where budgeting, personnel and research will play the most important role.

He also promised that the new cabinet members, who begin work on February 1, will quickly put their shoulders to the wheel. He will give them strict marching orders and demand the cabinet team move forward forcefully; there will be no room for passing the buck or shirking responsibility. Furthermore, the cabinet will resolve problems and achieve results in the shortest time possible.

A public opinion survey by the China Times indicated that Taiwanese have high expectations for this executive team, with 56% expressing satisfaction with the new premier and cabinet.

Media have classed the new cabinet members into four groups: business executives; officials who had served under Chen Shui-bian during his term as Taipei mayor; the so-called "Ilan Gang" (DPP heavyweights from Ilan County); and people from the Lee Teng-hui camp.

The government's determination to make an "all-out effort on the economy" is obvious. Top business executives have replaced officials who were more in the academic mold. "Taiwan's Iacocca," former economy minister Lin Hsin-I, has moved up to vice-premier and concurrently heads the Council for Economic Planning and Development; Minister of Finance Lee Yung-shan was director of the International Commercial Bank of China, director of the Office of Economic Research of the Central Bank of China, general manager of the Bank of Communications, and chairman of the Farmers Bank of China. All these officials are highly respected veterans in financial circles.

Minister of Economic Affairs Christine Tsung was chief financial officer for the city of Poway in San Diego County in the US, financial director for Columbia Pictures, and CEO of China Airlines. When she was CEO of China Airlines she turned the company around in less than two years from a money loser to a money maker, thus making herself the talk of the town.

Pointing to all the business leaders in cabinet positions, President Chen Shui-bian said that the new cabinet was a can-do cabinet that would "meet challenges and forge ahead." He promised that its members would bring to government agencies the keys to business success: knowledge, technology, creativity, an enterprising attitude, and initiative. This was an important reason why the new government sought people from the business world.

The emergence of a "Chen Shui-bian team," dating from his years as Taipei mayor, has prompted expectations that the new cabinet may be more on the same wavelength with the Presidential Office than its predecessor was. Members of the Chen Shui-bian team include: cabinet secretary-general Lee Ying-yuan (formerly Taiwan's deputy representative in Washington), Central Personnel Administration head Lee Yi-yang (previously vice-minister of the Interior), and Public Construction Commission head Kuo Yao-chi (leaving the post of head of the Presidential Office public affairs office). Also, Kaohsiung County commissioner Yu Cheng-hsien joins the cabinet to head the Ministry of the Interior.

The "Ilan Gang" moniker reflects the fact that newly appointed ministers without portfolio Chen Chi-nan and Lin Sheng-feng as well as Chen Ding-nan, who is staying on as Minister of Justice, all come from Ilan County, as does Premier Yu Shyi-kun.

Classed in the "Lee faction" are minister without portfolio Huang Hwei-chen, government spokesperson Chuang Suo-hang, Minister of Defense Tang Yao-ming, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien and Chairwoman of the Mainland Affairs Council Tsai Ing-wen. All have deep ties to former President Lee Teng-hui.

But the "Chen team," the "Lee faction," and the "Ilan Gang" labels are not the main point. Oberservers have high hopes for the new cabinet because the Presidential Office and the Executive Yuan are expected to communicate well make good use of political capital. The immediate challenge is to reinvigorate a flagging economy and continue managing the transition to a new economy.

Also noteworthy was the Yu cabinet's creation of the post of government spokesperson, departing from the tradition of having the Government Information Officer director-general acting in this role. This is seen as one small step by the new government toward reorganization. People will be watching all the more closely now to see how the central government restructures in the future.

p.075

January 21, President Chen Shui-bian holds a press conference formally announcing that former presidential Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun will form a new cabinet. From left to right, presidential Secretary-General Chen Shih-meng, Vice-President Annette Lu, President Chen Shui-bian, and the old and new premiers, Chang Chun-hsiung and Yu Shyi-kun. (photo by Jimmy Lin)