Taiwan’s new Premier Su Tseng-chang faces ‘tough task’ to help win back public trust

Taiwan has named a new premier who will be tasked with helping President Tsai Ing-wen fight an uphill battle in next year’s polls amid tense cross-strait relations and fallout from the US-China trade war.

Su Tseng-chang, 71, who has previously been Taiwan’s premier and chairman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, was appointed by Tsai after outgoing premier William Lai Ching-te and the entire cabinet resigned on Friday.

The departure of Lai and his cabinet after the budget was passed had been widely expected following the DPP’s losses at the local elections in November.

While Su’s most important task will be to ensure that Tsai gets the party ticket for her 2020 re-election bid, observers said the veteran politician would also have to help the president regain public trust and support in a poll battle that was likely to be fought on issues like cross-strait ties and the economy.

Tsai said that given Su led the cabinet between 2006 and 2007 – under then president Chen Shui-bian – he was the most suitable choice for the position. But she admitted the self-ruled island was facing a host of challenges, saying the new premier would help to deal with those problems.