The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday rejected speculation that former deputy council minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) was replaced because of conflicts with Mainland Affairs Council Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦).
It also denied that there was a link between Chang’s departure and a security lapse during a visit by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) in June.
Council spokeswoman Wu Mei-hung (吳美紅) told a morning news conference that Chang had stepped down on Thursday last week pending an “administrative investigation” into matters “related to his work.”
Photo: CNA
The Cabinet had cited “family reasons” when it announced on Saturday that Chang had resigned as the council’s principal deputy minister and would be replaced by MAC Deputy Minister Lin Chu-chia (林祖嘉).
Council officials on Saturday said that Wang had tried, but failed to persuade Chang to change his mind about leaving.
However, Chang on Sunday sent a text message to reporters saying that he had been “told to resign” on Thursday.
He said he had “gladly” done as he was told “when I was no longer needed,” but added that he had been “loyal and dutiful.”
Later in the day, the council announced that Chang “had to be removed and would be investigated” because there were “some suspicions about his work that have to be clarified.”
Wu said that the council had been trying to protect Chang when it said that he had resigned for “family reasons.”
Wang and Chang had respected each other at work and reports of discord between them were “absolutely not true,” she said.
The council does not feel Chang should be held responsible for the incident where Zhang and his entourage were surrounded by paint-throwing protesters in Greater Kaohsiung on June 27, she said.
Chang, 49, was appointed the council’s second-highest ranking official in September last year. In February, he assumed the posts of vice chairman and secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation.
Following the council’s news conference, Chang issued a statement at about noon that said he had placed national interests above all else since becoming a civil servant, and that in all his actions and words, he had followed the instructions of the president, the National Security Council’s secretary-general and the council’s minister.
“The Mainland Affairs Council changing my rationale for quitting to ‘reassignment to another position pending investigations’ is uncalled for and gives me no grounds to dispute [any allegations],” he said.
He said he hoped the council would be more careful in its statements to avoid harming itself and others.
Democratic Progressive Party spokesperson Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) said the government should give the public a clear explanation for Chang’s departure.
There must be a reason that the council mentioned an investigation and it must be made clear whether Chang neglected his duties during cross-strait negotiations, had damaged national interests, whether it was a question of personal integrity or if he went against President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) wishes, Hsu said.
The council is an important agency, and an issue involving Ma, the National Security Council and the Mainland Affairs Council merited a report from the president and the two councils, Hsu said.
Clarifications are needed to ensure that the nation’s interests and security were not subject to petty political squabbling, Hsu said.
Additional reporting by Su Fang-ho
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