TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Newly-appointed Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) unveiled his new Cabinet in two separate announcements on Friday (Jan. 27) and Saturday (Jan. 28).

While some Cabinet members have been replaced, a majority of cabinet members have retained their positions. The ministers of finance, economic affairs, labor, digital affairs, justice and the de-facto trade minister have retained their posts.

The Cabinet's second-in-command will be former Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who will become Vice Premier.

The Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) will continue to head the ministry responsible for formulating policy and laws for industry and trade. She has served as minister since 2020, and previously served as undersecretary from 2016.

Labor Minister Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) will remain in post, where she is responsible for overseeing Taiwan's labor policy and workplace regulations. She has served as minister since 2018. Prior to joining the central government, she was the deputy mayor of Kaohsiung.

Deputy Finance Minister Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) will be elevated to the top role of the ministry, which is responsible for government revenue, taxation, treasury, government land properties, customs in Taiwan.

The appointment of Chuang will also mark the country's third female finance minister. Renowned economist Shirley Kuo (郭婉容) and, 24 years later, her daughter Christina Liu (劉憶如) headed the ministry, in 1988-1990 and in 2012, respectively.

Chuang has been lauded for her role in cultivating land surface rights to better leverage the state-owned plots of land under 500 ping, which have been banned from sale in Taipei since 2010. She is described as an amiable, clever, and goal-oriented supervisor in the ministry with strong interpersonal and communication skills when dealing with external stakeholders, CTS reported.

The current Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得) will leave the post to become one of the nine ministers without portfolio. The vacancy left by Lee will be filled by Deputy Kaohsiung Mayor Zhe Shi (史哲), who has been lauded for his capability in branding and marketing for the city government of Kaohsiung.

Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), who is the country's de-facto trade minister, will continue to sit at the negotiation table for trade talks on behalf of Taiwan.

Minister Without Portfolio Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) will retain his post as head of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), which is responsible for shaping strategies for the country's scientific and technological development.

National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) will remain in post. He has previously served as deputy minister of economic affairs. The National Development Council is responsible for allocating funding and prioritizing assistance for programs and businesses to improve Taiwan's economic landscape and quality of life.

Minister without Portfolio Lin Wan-i (林萬億) will remain in the Cabinet. Lin is an expert in social welfare who has been dedicated to pension reform issues. He has served in the Tsai administration since 2016, and also served in the Chen administration from 2006 to 2007.

Minister without Portfolio and law professor Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成), an expert counsel on legal matters for the administration, will also remain in post.

Minister without Portfolio Chang Ching-sen (張景森) will also remain in the Cabinet. Chang is a civil engineer who headed the Department of Urban Development of the Taipei City Government in the 1990s. He was previously in the media's spotlight for inappropriate comments that seemed to take the side of land developers in relation to a controversial urban renewal project in Taipei's Shilin District back in 2016.



Chang has served in the Tsai administration since May 2016. Since 2017, he has also served concurrently as director of the government's Kinmen-Matsu Joint Services Center.

Minister without Portfolio Huang Chih-ta (黃致達), who served as senior secretary of the Executive Yuan before 2020, will stay on. Huang has served as a deputy director of the DPP's Department of International Affairs and as a deputy on the party's central committee. He has been a key organizer for several high-profile election campaigns of DPP leaders over the years.

Wu Tse-cheng (吳澤成) will continue in his cabinet role as the director of the Executive Yuan's Public Construction Commission. He has served in the role since 2017, and also served in the same capacity under the Chen administration from 2006 to 2008.

Deputy Interior Minister Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥) will serve as the spokesperson for the new Cabinet. Chen was previously the undersecretary of the cabinet and also served as a deputy of the Central Epidemic Command Center during the height of the COVID 19 pandemic from 2020 to summer 2022.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) will head the Ocean Affairs Council. Kuan has served in the Legislative Yuan for over a decade representing Kaohsiung.

Prior to her work as a legislator, she worked as an administrator for the Kaohsiung municipal government, making her suitable for the executive position at the Kaohsiung-based Ocean Affairs Council.

Cabinet Deputy Secretary-General Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) will remain in post. She has served in the Tsai administration since 2016 and previously was the deputy director of the DPP's Policy Research and Coordinating Committee.

Deputy Minister of the Atomic Energy Council Chang Ching-wen (張靜文) will be elevated to the head of the council as the Tsai government continues to pursue the goal of phasing out nuclear power in Taiwan.

Deputy Minister of the Overseas Community Affairs Council Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) will be promoted to become the minister. Prior to joining the Tsai administration in 2020, Hsu served as the deputy party secretary of the DPP from 2016 to 2019.

Former Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) will serve as Minister of the Interior in the Cabinet reshuffle. He served two terms as mayor of Keelung and maintained a very high approval rating among constituents. His educational background is in urban planning, which makes him a good fit to lead the Ministry of the Interior.

Zhe Shi (史哲) is a former deputy mayor of Kaohsiung, who also served as the director of the city's Bureau of Cultural Affairs from 2010 to 2016. He will replace Lee Yung-te (李永得) as the Minister of Culture.

Hsiao Tsong-huang (蕭宗煌) has served as an undersecretary in the Minstry of Culture. He has also served as director of several museums in Taiwan. He has been tapped as the new director of the National Palace Museum.

Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) will stay on in his post. He began serving in office in 2016, but stepped down in 2018 after controversy regarding the selection of the current president of National Taiwan University. However, Pan was re-appointed to the post in 2019.

Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) is the Minister of Justice, and will remain in his post. He has served as the head of the ministry since 2018. Prior to joining the cabinet, he was director of the Justice Bureau. He oversees the standards and practices of Taiwan's law enforcement agencies and prison system.

Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Huang Tien-mu (黃天牧) will remain in his post. He has served as the FSC chairman since 2020, and prior to that, as vice chairman since 2013, with a brief stint as acting chairman in 2016.

Chang Tzi-chin (張子敬) will remain in his post as Minister of the Environmental Protection Administration, where he has served since 2019. Prior to leading the EPA, he served as deputy minister from 2006 to 2019, under the Chen and Ma administrations.

Minister Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) will stay in his post as head of the Ministry of Transportation and Communication. He was appointed Minister in 2021, but served as deputy minister from 2016 to 2021. He was also the acting minister for a brief period from December 2018 to January 2019.

Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) will remain in his post as Minister of Health and Welfare, to which he was recently appointed in July 2022 after the previous minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) stepped down from the office. Prior to that, Hsueh served as the undersecretary at the ministry, starting in 2017.

Chairman of the Council of Agriculture Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) will remain in his post where he has served since 2019. He has served in the Tsai administration since 2016, previously as the deputy chairman of the council.





The Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) will remain in the office where she has served since August 2022, when the ministry was established under Tang's leadership. Before that, Tang was a minister without portfolio, serving in the cabinet since 2016.

The Minister of the Veteran's Affairs Council Feng Shih-Kuan (馮世寬) will remain in his post where he has served since late 2019. At the start of the Tsai administration, Feng served as the Minister of National Defense from 2016 to 2018. Feng served in the Air Force when he was younger and was the chairman of the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation prior to entering the central government.

The Minister of the Hakka Affairs Council Yang Con-ziin (楊長鎮) will remain in his post where he has served since May 2020. Prior to becoming minister, Yang was deputy minister of the council from 2016 to 2020.

The Minister of the Council of Indigenous People Icyang Parod (夷將-拔路兒) will remain in his post, where he has served since 2016. He also served in the office from 2007 to 2008 in the last year of the Chen administration.

The Minister of the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Su Chun-jung (蘇俊榮) will remain in his post. He has served in the cabinet since 2016, previously as the deputy minister of the DGPA.

The Minister of the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Chu Tzer-ming (朱澤民), will remain in his post, where he has served since 2016. Prior to joining the cabinet, he worked as an associate professor at a number of universities in the Greater Taipei area.

Jen-ni Yang (楊珍妮) will remain in her post as the Director of the Taiwan Council for U.S. Affairs, where she has served since 2021. She also has experience as the Director-General of the Bureau of Foreign Trade in the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Yang has also served as the Deputy Chief Negotiator for the MOEA.

The new premier is expected to confirm all the top roles of his new Cabinet on Monday (Jan. 30).