Taiwan on Sunday named Woody Tyzz-Jiun Duh as economics minister, after his predecessor resigned in the aftermath of a gas explosion that killed 30 people and injured more than 300. Chang Chia-juch, who took his post in February 2013, submitted his resignation on Thursday after a series of gas blasts ripped through several city blocks in Kaohsiung, Taiwan's second-largest city, late on July 31.
The Executive Yuan, or cabinet, on Sunday said in a statement that Premier Chang Yi-huah accepted Chang's decision to go despite efforts to persuade him to stay at his post. The two are not related. The cabinet then named Chang's deputy as the new economics minister.
Duh had also submitted his resignation on Thursday with Chang, as is customary for the deputy ministerial post of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, according to Sun Lih-chyun, spokesman for the Executive Yuan. Lih said Duh had been asked to stay on as acting minister, then was appointed officially on Sunday when efforts to persuade Chang to change his mind failed. Duh is a US-educated career civil servant, according to the statement from the Executive Yuan. His expertise is in industrial policy, technology and management, and he is also experienced in cross-strait and international trade co-operation, the statement said. Central and local government authorities have been in dispute over compensation for the blast and the costs of reconstruction. Former minister Chang said last week he hoped his departure would ease the political deadlock.
The explosions gutted a district in the port city packed with shops and apartment buildings. The ensuing dispute is the latest between the ruling and opposition parties in Taiwan.
Taiwan politicians and the public have been divided over a trade and services pact with China that would bring both sides economically closer. There has also been disagreement over the fate of the long-stalled construction of a fourth nuclear power plant in northern Taiwan.