The World - News from May 31, 1989

Legislators confirmed veteran politician Lee Huan as Taiwan’s premier to succeed Yu Kuo-hwa, who has been criticized for his cautious approach to economic and political reforms. Lee, 72, educated at Columbia University in New York and Dangkook University in South Korea, is among the most liberal senior officials in the governing Nationalist Party. He has been the party’s secretary general since 1987. The vote for Lee in Parliament, where Nationalists hold an overwhelming majority, was 217 to 24. Younger Nationalist legislators had considered Yu, 75, in the post since 1984, to be a liability as the party prepared for December parliamentary elections.