NEW ECONOMIC OFFICIALS NAMED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 000206

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SIPDIS

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STATE FOR EAP/TC
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TREASURY FOR OASIA/LMOGHTADER
USTR FOR STRATFORD, ALTBACH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2017
TAGS: EFIN PGOV ECON PINR TW
SUBJECT: NEW ECONOMIC OFFICIALS NAMED

REF: A. TAIPEI 153


B. TAIPEI 63

Classified By: AIT Deputy Director Robert S. Wang, Reason 1.4 b


1. (C) Summary: The Chen administration named Hu Sheng-
cheng Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman, Ho
Mei-yueh Council for Economic Planning and Development
Chairman (CEPD),and Tang Jinn-chuan Fair Trade
Commission (FTC) Chairman. The appointments of Hu and Ho
come after the previous FSC Chairman resigned over the
China Rebar Pacific Group scandal. Both are long-serving
cabinet members. End Summary.

New Economic Cabinet Officials Named
--------------


2. (U) On January 25, the Executive Yuan (EY) announced
three new economic and financial cabinet officials as
follows:

-- FSC Chairman - Hu Sheng-cheng, previously Chairman of
CEPD.
--CEPD Chairman - Ho Mei-yueh, previously Minister
without Portfolio.
--FTC Chairman - Tang Jinn-chuan, previously Deputy Mayor
of Kaohsiung.


3. (C) The FSC and CEPD appointments were prompted by the
resignation of Shih Jun-ji as FSC Chairman to take
responsibility for the run on Chinese Bank, an affiliate
of China Rebar Pacific Group (CRPG). Hu replaces Shih,
and Ho will take over the vacancy left by Hu at CEPD.
Both are long-serving cabinet members. Ho, who appears
to be close to Vice Premier Tsai Ing-wen, has now served
under three Premiers, and Hu has served under four.


4. (U) CRPG has been at the center of a major financial
scandal with broader political implications. The bank
run occurred after CRPG announced a large-scale
reorganization on January 4, 2007, that caused stock
prices of CRPG affiliates to collapse (ref B). CRPG's
Chairman Wang You-theng and others in the group have been
accused of massive embezzlement and insider trading.
Wang is now believed to be in the United States (ref A).


5. (U) Tang was named to replace FTC Chairman Hwang
Tzong-leh because Hwang's term expires in mid-February.
Hwang will become Chairman of the Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP) Integrity Committee. Biographic information
of the three new appointees follows:

FSC Chairman - Hu Sheng-cheng
--------------


6. (U) Hu Sheng-cheng, 67, has served in Taiwan's cabinet
for six years, the second longest after Central Bank
Governor Perng Fai-nan. He was named CEPD Chairman when
President Chen started his second term in May 2004. Hu
was recruited to serve in the DPP administration as
Minister without Portfolio in March 2001 as part of an
effort by then Premier Chang Chun-hsiung to strengthen
the economic credentials of the cabinet. For ten months
prior to March 2001, Hu was a Board Director for Taiwan's
Central Bank of China.


7. (U) Before joining the government, Hu worked in
academia. From 1996 to 2000, he was Director of Academia
Sinica's Economic Research Institute. He taught
economics at Purdue University from 1968 to 1996. For
the last five years of his tenure at Purdue, Hu was
Chairman of the Economics Department. He also served as
an advisor to the Taiwan Institute for Economic Research
in the early 1990's, giving advice on national health
insurance policy.


8. (C) Hu joined the DPP in June 2004. He earned a BA in
economics from National Taiwan University in 1962 and a
PhD from the University of Rochester in 1968. Hu has
been a valuable contact for AIT. His demeanor is
unassuming and friendly. He is generally forthright with
American interlocutors.


TAIPEI 00000206 002 OF 002


CEPD Chairman - Ho Mei-yueh
--------------


9. (U) Ho Mei-yueh, 56, was named Minister without
Portfolio in May 2004 after serving for two years as
Minister of Economic Affairs. Her portfolio now includes
both economic and agricultural issues. When President
Chen first took office in May 2000, Ho was promoted from
Director of the EY Fifth Department (in charge of
economic issues) to Vice Chairman of CEPD. Previously,
she worked for 22 years in the Ministry of Economic
Affairs Industrial Development Bureau.


10. (SBU) Like Hu, Ho joined the DPP in June 2004. She
has a BS in agricultural chemistry from National Taiwan
University. She also has a particularly good
relationship with current Vice Premier Tsai Ing-wen as
the two had worked on Taiwan's entry into the WTO for
many years. She is outwardly calm, but focused and
diligent.

FTC Chairman - Tang Jinn-chuan
--------------


11. (U) Tang Jinn-chuan, 61, is one of the founders of
the DPP party. He has a strong legal background. Tang
served as Vice Minister of Justice for one year before he
was appointed Deputy Mayor of Kaohsiung in February 2005.
He was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 1998 to 2004
and a Kaohsiung City Councilman from 1994 to 1998. Prior
to that, he worked as a prosecutor, judge and attorney.
Tang earned a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from Catholic
Fujen University and a Master of Laws (LLM) from National
Taiwan University.
YOUNG