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Premier Su Tseng-chang submitted his resignation last week along
with that of his cabinet ahead of the widely expected government
reorganisation.
Su's move followed the DPP's trouncing at local polls in
November, and comes as Taiwan gears up for presidential and
parliamentary elections in early 2024.
President Tsai Ing-wen is expected to hold a news conference on
Friday morning to formally make the announcement, her office
said in a short statement, but without giving details of which
other positions would get new ministers.
Chen, 71, is a devout Catholic who served as vice president
during Tsai's first term in office, from 2016-2020, and
Taiwanese media had named him as the person most likely to be
the new premier.
He will have to oversee several tricky issues, including
navigating the export-oriented island's slowing economy and
plans to extend military conscription to one year in the face of
a rising military threat from China, though the DPP has a large
majority in parliament meaning its proposals do get passed.
Chen only joined the DPP last year but took on a high profile
position campaigning for the party ahead of November's local
elections.
He also attended former Pope Benedict's funeral at the Vatican
this month as Tsai's envoy, the Vatican being one of only 14
countries which still have diplomatic ties with Chinese-claimed
Taiwan.
An epidemiologist by training, he was Taiwan's health minister
during the 2003 SARS outbreak, credited with bringing the
disease under control, and played an important role in shaping
Taiwan's response to COVID-19.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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