Taipei, Sept. 5 (CNA) Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation (TWSE) Chairman Shih Jun-ji said Tuesday that he has accepted an offer to serve as Taiwan's next vice premier.
Shih, 62, told reporters that Premier-designate Lai Ching-te had discussed the offer with him and that he was deeply honored to accept the position.
Shih said he will continue to use his expertise and experience to help advance Taiwan's economic development.
A former economics professor at National Taiwan University, Shih entered the public service for the first time in 2006, serving for a year as chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission in the administration of former President Chen Shui-bian.
Shih was appointed as minister without portfolio after Tsai Ing-wen took office as president in May 2016, and has been serving as chairman of the TWSE since July last year.
On Tuesday, Tsai named Lai to replace Lin Chuan, who tendered his resignation the previous day.
Lin's Cabinet is expected to resign en masse on Thursday, after which a new Cabinet will be sworn in Friday.
Also Tuesday, Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung said he will retain his position in the new Cabinet, and all the incumbent ministers without portfolio will also stay on, except for Chen Tain-jy, who serves concurrently as minister of the National Development Council.
Chen Mei-ling, currently secretary-general of the Cabinet, will take over the vacancies left by Chen Tain-jy, while Wellington Koo, chairman of the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee, will become chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission, according to Hsu.
Ruling Democratic Progressive Party Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai, meanwhile, will succeed Chen Mei-ling as the next Cabinet secretary-general, Hsu said.
