New Cabinet, Presidential Office officials sworn in

Taipei, Jan. 31 (CNA) The new Cabinet led by Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), Secretary-General to the President Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), and other new Presidential Office appointments were sworn into office Tuesday morning.

The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Presidential Office and hosted by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the Presidential Office said in a press statement.

It marked the conclusion of a reshuffle in both the Cabinet and the Presidential Office and followed the resignation of former Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and his Cabinet officials on Monday.

Also attending the ceremony were Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and Secretary-General of the National Security Council Wellington Koo (顧立雄), as well as the heads of the Judicial Yuan, Control Yuan and Examination Yuan, the statement said.

During a separate ceremony on Tuesday at the Executive Yuan marking the handover of power from the outgoing Cabinet to the newly appointed one, Chen said he and his Cabinet officials would spare no effort in their tenure until the end of Tsai's second term in May 2024.

Chen, who served as vice president during Tsai's first term from 2016-2020, is expected to lead his Cabinet to resign en masse even if the ruling Democratic Progressive Party is able to win the 2024 presidential election and stay in power.

According to Chen, one of his Cabinet's priorities is to further loosen COVID-19 disease prevention protocols with the aim of "bringing the lives of people back to normal."

At the same time, the Cabinet will be dedicated to helping companies and individuals that have been economically impacted by the pandemic over the past three years, Chen said.

In particular, he said, the government is planning to help boost small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to improve the infrastructure of agricultural and fishing areas.

The Cabinet will seek to "lead Taiwan through various challenges" against the backdrop of the volatile global economy and inflation while turning Taiwan into a more resilient and competitive nation for the decade to come, Chen said.

He went on to say that the Cabinet would roll out social welfare measures to "ease the financial burdens of the general public" and focus on fighting major crimes, such as illicit drug dealings, organized crime and fraud.

Meanwhile, Su, 75, said that though he was leaving public office, he would be ready to serve "whenever the country needs [me]."

Su, the longest-serving premier since direct presidential elections began in Taiwan in 1996, gave his blessings to Chen and the new Cabinet officials, many of whom also served in the same positions in his Cabinet.

Lai, who served as a witness of the Cabinet's ceremony, said he had the utmost confidence in Chen in fulfilling all the tasks entrusted by Tsai in the next 16 months.

The coming year is key as Taiwan seeks to fully recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lai said, adding that he expected Chen's Cabinet to do their best to promote post-pandemic economic recovery and other government policies.

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