Cabinet Reshuffle: Don’t Just Think of Clenching an Iron Fist

  Cabinet Reshuffle: Don’t Just Think of Clenching an Iron Fist

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

July 11, 2018

 Translation of an Excerpt

The Cabinet is now undergoing a reshuffle. Currently, rumors about the new arrangements are: Cabinet spokesperson Hsu Kuo-yung will replace Interior Minister, and whether legislator Kuan Bi-ling will head the Education Ministry is still under prolonged consideration; they also include the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Finance Ministry. In addition, Justice Minister Chiu Tai-san earnestly wants to leave his post, and reportedly director of the Bureau of Investigation Tsai Ching-hsiang is a possible candidate for successor.

When the reshuffle is settled with the actual appointments, the question is whether the new appointees will correspond to the functions of their posts and make the public feel the changes taking place. For instance, Hsu Kuo-yung now plays the role of Cabinet spokesman; if he is asked to head “the number one ministry,” he may not be able to cope with the myriad, heavy responsibilities. No wonder that with regard to the news that he might be the next Interior Minister, the public did not have much of a positive reaction.

Moreover, whether Kuan Bi-ling will take over as Education Minister, she personally has a strong willingness; the problem is that the Education Ministry is basically not a ministry that can rely solely on oratorical talent and performance skills for leadership. If someone does not have a profound understanding and respect for the profession of education, only regards education as an arena for political wrangling, it is impossible to help substantively enhance the competitiveness of Taiwan’s education, which has been mired in a deep valley. Not to mention that the “plucking Kuan” case still stands high like a bronze wall right there, can Kuan Bi-ling soley rely on her lips to fly over this obstacle?

Right now, the one who has been rumored to be a possible successor to Justice Minister Chiu Tai-san is Tsai Ching-hsiang, director of the Bureau of Investigation. However, during his stint at the Bureau of Investigation for over two years, he has left behind two heart-chilling records: First is the draft bill entitled "Security Preservation Service Act,” drafted under his guidance, authorizing security agents to be stationed in all government units, and eliciting criticisms of the “revival of Personnel Offices II,”  of an erstwhile era, and infringing on human rights. The second is that the Investigation Bureau has successively launched "nabbing Communist spies," ending as a result with the arrest of Mainland student Zhou Hongxu and the New Party’s Wang Ping-chung among others, which triggered the Mainland’s reprisal in the arrest of Lee Ming-jer. If Tsai Ching-hsiang headed the Ministry of Justice with staff employing such iron and blood tactics, how could people not worry that the rule of law and human rights would be eroded?

If the Presidential Palace and the Cabinet, with one heart and mind, think of strengthening grasp and control, then it will be difficult to have a good deployment for the forthcoming Cabinet reshuffle.

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