The government warned the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) Tuesday against what has been described as the 'fat cat' problem on the part of the financially strapped company. In an extraordinary board meeting earlier in the day, THSRC picked Ou Chin-der, originally THSRC CEO, as its chairman, replacing Nita Ing, in a bid to streamline its operations. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications, which oversees THSRC operations, said after Ou's appointment that the 'fat cat' issue needs to be further addressed to meet the expectations of the public. 'THSRC, as an important public construction project, should bear in mind its social responsibilities,' the ministry said. The company pays extraordinarily high salaries to its high-ranking executives, in spite of the fact that it has been running in the red, with accumulated losses of NT$70 billion (US$2.15 billion) as of the end of June -- about 66 percent of its paid-in capital of NT$105.3 billion -- as well as total debts of NT$400 billion, drawing frequent outcries from the public. According to THSRC's annual reports, it pays each of its 22 vice presidents over NT$2 million per year, while each of its three foreign consultants earns NT$10 million annually. Ing's annual salary reached as high as NT$13 million before she offered to forego her salary early this year when THSRC initialed a 10 percent to 20 percent cut in the salaries of its high-ranking executives. The average salaries in THSRC are still higher than those of most other companies in the local transport industry, and the new THSRC leadership must take measures to further address the problem, the ministry said. The privately run THSRC has been running the country's 345-km high speed rail system under a build-operate-transfer contract with the government. According to the contract, the company has to transfer ownership to the government after operating it for 35 years. 