Taiwan President-Elect Lai Ching-te will be inaugurated on May 20th, and his new cabinet has already announced five waves of personnel appointments. Today (April 25), Lai Ching-te held a press conference to continue announcing the sixth wave of cabinet personnel appointments, including the lineup for national security and diplomatic teams.
At 10 a.m. this morning, Lai Ching-te held the “New Cabinet of Lai Ching-te, National Security Leadership Personnel Sixth Round Announcement Conference” to unveil the list of cabinet members, including Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Meng-an, National Security Council Secretary-General Wu Zhaoxie, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung, Minister of National Defense Ku Li-hsiung, National Security Bureau Director Tsai Ming-yen (staying on), Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng, Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Zheng Wen-can, and National Defense Veterans Affairs Commission Chairperson Yan Te-fa.
Lai Ching-te’s new government has now announced six waves of new cabinet personnel. On April 10, Lai Ching-te released the first wave of cabinet appointments, with former Democratic Progressive Party Chairman Su Jhen-hwa and Tsai Lin-chun, Chairperson of the Green Platform Foundation, designated as Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister respectively. National Development Council Chairperson Kung Ming-hsin was appointed as the Secretary-General of the Executive Yuan, and DPP Central Standing Committee Member Chen Shi-kai was appointed as the Executive Yuan spokesperson.
Su Jhen-hwa subsequently announced the second to fifth waves of cabinet appointments on April 12, 16, 19, and 23. The second wave included former legislator Liu Shih-fang as Minister of the Interior, current Executive Yuan Secretary-General Li Meng-yen as Minister of Transportation, Taipei District Prosecutor Zheng Ming-chien as Minister of Justice, National Sun Yat-sen University President Cheng Ying-yao as Minister of Education, and renowned writer Xiao Yan as Minister of Culture.
The third wave of cabinet members includes Chong Yuet Group Chairman Guo Chih-hui as Minister of Economic Affairs, Central Research Institute’s Information Technology Innovation Research Center’s special researcher Huang Yen-nan as Minister of Digital Development, National Taipei University of Technology President Wu Cheng-wen as National Science Council Chairperson, former Chairman of CyCraft Innovation Consulting Company Liu Jing-ching as National Development Council Chairperson, National Chengchi University College of Commerce Vice Dean Peng Chin-lung as Financial Supervisory Commission Chairperson, and former CPC Corporation, Taiwan Chairman Chen Chin-de as Public Construction Commission Chairperson.
The fourth wave of cabinet members includes Environment Minister Peng Chi-ming, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan, Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan, Council of Indigenous Peoples Chairperson Gur Shiu-fei, and Aboriginal Affairs Council Chairperson Tseng Chih-yung.
In the fifth wave of cabinet appointments, Agriculture Minister Chen Chun-chi, Overseas Community Affairs Council Minister Hsu Chia-ching (remaining in position), Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (remaining), Mainland Affairs Council Chairperson Katharine Chang (remaining), Chief Statistician Chen Shu-tsai, and Ministry of Civil Service Administration Director-General Su Chun-jung (remaining) were announced.