Lai cabinet

Lai cabinet
49th premiership of the ROC Taiwan
Portrait photograph of the Premier, William Lai
Date formed	8 September 2017 (2017-09-08)
Date dissolved	11 January 2019 (2019-01-11)
People and organisations
Head of state	Tsai Ing-wen
Head of government	William Lai Ching-te
Deputy head of government	Shih Jun-ji
Total no. of members	?
Member parties	Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
Status in legislature	DPP majority, pan-green majority
Opposition parties	Kuomintang
Opposition leader	Johnny Chiang
History
Election(s)	2016 Taiwanese legislative election
Legislature term(s)	Ninth Legislative Yuan
Predecessor	Lin cabinet
Successor	Second Su cabinet

History

On 3 September 2017, Premier Lin Chuan tendered his resignation to President Tsai Ing-wen, which was reluctantly accepted. A recent poll showed Lin's approve rating to be a mere 28.7%, with 6 in 10 respondents dissatisfied with the performance of his cabinet. On 5 September President Tsai announced at a press conference that Lai would become the country's next head of the Executive Yuan, with the Premier-designate saying that running the government is like running in a relay race, and he vowed to take the baton from Lin and complete his unfinished major policies.

Lai took office on 8 September as the 49th Premier of the Republic of China. On 17 September following Lai's appointment as premier, Tsai's approval ratings reached 46%, rebounding by more than 16 points since August. Lai made his first appearance as premier at the Legislative Yuan on 26 September, where he stated "I am a political worker who advocates Taiwan independence" but that "We are already an independent sovereign nation called the Republic of China. We don't need a separate declaration of independence". Lai has appeared to have moderated his position on Taiwanese independence particularly when he proposed the idea of "being close to China while loving Taiwan" in June 2017. He also expressed no desire to run against Tsai Ing-wen in the 2020 presidential election. On 28 September the New Party called on the KMT to join it in filing a formal complaint against the Premier for sedition.

Lai's cabinet resigned on 11 January 2019. His cabinet was succeeded by the second cabinet of Su Tseng-chang.

Members

Leaders

Name		Leader
English Name	Chinese
Premier	院長		Lai Ching-te
Vice Premier	副院長		Shih Jun-ji
Secretary-General	秘書長		Cho Jung-tai

Ministries

Name		Minister
English Name	Chinese
Interior	內政部		Hsu Kuo-yung
Foreign Affairs	外交部		Joseph Wu
National Defense	國防部		Yen Teh-fa
Finance	財政部		Su Jain-rong
Education	教育部		Yao Leeh-ter (acting)
Justice	法務部		Tsai Ching-hsiang
Economic Affairs	經濟部		Shen Jong-chin
Transportation and Communications	交通部		Wang Kwo-tsai (acting)
Labor	勞動部		Hsu Ming-chun
Health and Welfare	衛生福利部		Chen Shih-chung
Culture	文化部		Cheng Li-chun
Science and Technology	科技部		Chen Liang-gee

Councils and Commissions

Empowered by various laws, or even the Constitution, under the Executive Yuan Council several individual boards are formed to enforce different executive functions of the government. Unless regulated otherwise, the chairs are appointed by and answer to the Premier. The committee members of the boards are usually (a) governmental officials for the purpose of interdepartmental coordination and cooperation; or (b) creditable professionals for their reputation and independence.

  To become a ministry

  To be merged into other organs

Name		Chair
English Name	Chinese
Council of Agriculture	農業委員會		Chen Chi-chung (acting)
National Development Council	國家發展委員會		Chen Mei-ling
Mainland Affairs Council	大陸委員會		Chen Ming-tong
Financial Supervisory Commission	金融監督管理委員會		Wellington Koo
Ocean Affairs Council	海洋委員會		Hwung Hwung-hweng
Overseas Community Affairs Council	僑務委員會		Wu Hsin-hsing
Veterans Affairs Council	國軍退除役官兵輔導委員會		Chiu Kuo-cheng
Council of Indigenous Peoples	原住民族委員會		Icyang Parod
Hakka Affairs Council	客家委員會		Lee Yung-te
Public Construction Commission	公共工程委員會		Wu Tze-cheng
Atomic Energy Council	原子能委員會		Hsieh Shou-shing

Independent Commissions

There are, or would be, independent executive commissions under the Executive Yuan Council. The chiefs of these five institutions would not be affected by any change of the Premier. However, the related organic laws are currently under revision.

Name		Chair
English Name	Chinese
Central Election Commission	中央選舉委員會		Chen Chao-chien (acting)
Fair Trade Commission	公平交易委員會		Huang Mei-ying
National Communications Commission	國家通訊傳播委員會		Chan Ting-I

Other organs

  To become a ministry

  To be merged into other organs

Name		Leader
English Name	Chinese
Environmental Protection Administration	環境保護署		Tsai Hung-teh (acting)
Central Bank	中央銀行		Yang Chin-long
National Palace Museum	國立故宮博物院		Chen Chi-nan
Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics	主計總處		Chu Tzer-ming
Directorate-General of Personnel Administration	人事行政總處		Jay N. Shih