President remains undecided on WTO representative post

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has yet to decide who will represent Taiwan to the WTO and won't make a decision until after Jan. 18, sources from the Presidential Office said yesterday.

"President Chen won't start the overall planning and arrangements for the Cabinet reshuffle, the WTO representative and the posts of speaker and vice speaker of the Legislative Yuan until the term of the current legislature expires on Jan. 18," the source said yesterday.

The guessing game of who will represent Taiwan to the WTO began shortly before the nation joined the world trade body on Jan. 1.

On Saturday, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) told reporters that she had recommended to the president two choices for representative and the deputy representative to the WTO.

According to sources from the Presidential Office, four candidates are on the short list. They are Eugene Chien (簡又新), deputy secretary-general to the president; Vice Premier Lai In-jaw (賴英照); Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), chairwoman of the Mainland Affairs Council; and Hsu Ko-sheng (許柯生), former vice chairman for the council.

"The president prefers Chien to the other candidates because he has served as our top representative to the UK and is familiar with European affairs. The president trusts him very much," the source said. "But Chien himself is not very keen on the post."

According to the source, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) had wanted to appoint Chien as minister of foreign affairs but faced opposition from New Party and KMT lawmakers, who threatened to boycott the nation's budget in the legislature.

In addition, sources say that Chien is still interested in heading the foreign ministry now that there are rumors that Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂), who currently holds that job, will be stepping down.

According to DPP legislative caucus leader Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), the vice premier is a strong candidate for the job, given his academic and legal background and hands-on experience in economic and financial issues.

In addition, Tsai said Lai's credentials as vice premier would give him more influence in cross-strait and international negotiations. "Of course, one major reason why some DPP members would like to see Lai go to Geneva is that they want to vie for his job as vice premier," Tsai said.

Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) has denied that he had recommended Lai to be the WTO representative.

Lai has said on several occasions that he hasn't asked about the post and that he is not willing to take the job.

Though Tsai Ing-wen has shown interest in the position, sources from the Presidential Office said Chen still hopes to rely on Tsai for her experience and expertise in cross-strait affairs.

"Unless President Chen finds someone who is totally trustworthy and qualified to be the head of the Mainland Affairs Council, Tsai will still stay in the job to oversee the DPP government's cross-strait policy," the source said.

As for Hsu Ko-sheng, who is retired from public office, a daily newspaper said yesterday he had the backing of the premier.

But Hsu has denied that the government has asked him about serving as representative to the WTO.

"I would not say `yes' even if the Presidential Office comes to me," the retired public servant said.

But the Presidential Office source said Hsu was still a candidate.

"Even though Hsu is in his late 60s and his appointment would go against the president's principle of cultivating new blood for government posts, he's a veteran top negotiator," the source said.