Moscow: Taiwanese President-elect Lai Ching-te appointed former chairman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Cho Jung-tai as Taiwan’s new prime minister on Wednesday, the media reported.
In January, Taiwan held a general election in which pro-independence candidate Lai, also of the ruling DPP, won with 40.05% of the vote to head the island’s local administration.
Cho will take office after Lai and Vice President-elect Hsiao Bi-khim are inaugurated on May 20, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported.
The 65-year-old politician served as DPP chairman from early 2019 until then-Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen’s second tenure as the island’s head in May 2020, the report said.
Taiwan has been governed independently of mainland China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan – a territory with its own elected government maintains that it is an autonomous country but stops short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any official contacts of foreign states with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable.
