Michael Tsai accepts post in US

Outgoing DPP lawmaker Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) yesterday accepted President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) offer to become Taiwan's deputy representative to the US. The office is soon to be vacated by incoming Cabinet secretary-general Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), sources said yesterday.

"Tsai has accepted the offer, but the Cabinet has yet to make the formal announcement," Tsai's aide, surnamed Lai, told the Taipei Times yesterday.

Chen met incoming and outgoing DPP lawmakers on Monday evening for a banquet at the Presidential Office. Tsai joined Chen later for a closed-door discussion during which it is believed that the offer was made, sources said.

When asked to confirm whether Tsai was to replace him as Taiwan's No. 2 representative to Washington, Lee said: "it's quite possible, as Tsai has had very good credentials."

Lee is scheduled to return to Washington today to pack before returning to Taipei on Jan. 30, he said. The new Cabinet is scheduled to be sworn in on Feb. 1.

Born in 1941, Tsai earned a JD and an MBA in the US and is a registered US attorney. He joined the legislature in 1996 after spending decades in the US fighting for Taiwanese democratization and independence.

After his defeat in the Taichung City commissioner's race on Dec. 1, Tsai traveled to Washington.

"He was warmly received in the US," Lee recalled, who was with Tsai during Tsai's visit to Washington.

Meanwhile, yesterday's Liberty Times reported that Chen has already met with outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂) and offered him the post as Taipei's top representative to London.

But Tien was tight-lipped when asked to confirm the report yesterday during another lunch banquet, this one for the outgoing foreign minister, sources said.

According to KMT lawmaker Apollo Chen (陳學聖), who was also at the banquet, little was said during the lunch about Tien's career plans after leaving the Cabinet.

Chen said that lawmakers at the banquet lauded Tien's work over the past 20 months.

"Few foreign ministers have had their ministry's budget sail through the legislature with so little hassle -- even when the minister was then on an overseas trip," Chen said.

A close aide of Tien said yesterday that he could not confirm or deny the president's offer to Tien.

Taipei's incumbent representative to London, the 66-year-old Tzen Wen-hua (鄭文華), is set to retire from diplomacy soon, sources at the foreign ministry said.