Former head of GIO to head up CNA: officials

Close aides to Premier Yu Shyi-kun and senior Central News Agency (CNA) reporters yesterday told the Taipei Times that reports of former head of the Government Information Office (GIO) Su Tzen-ping (蘇正平) taking over as chairman of CNA are true.

The GIO holds more than 50 percent of CNA's shares.

"Su will be the next chairman of CNA. He was offered the post as soon as he left the GIO," said an aide to Yu, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Su is expected to assume the post in June, after his appointment has received the anticipated approval of the CNA board, according to the sources.

Su will then become the latest senior DPP figure to take up a post at the helm of a major state-invested organization, following in the footsteps of former DPP secretary-general and current chairman of Taisugar, Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁), and former DPP lawmaker Cheng Pao-ching (鄭寶清), current chairman of the Taiwan Salt Industrial Corp (台鹽).

Su, asked by the Taipei Times whether the reports were true, said, "The GIO is still working on it. Now is not the time to comment."

High-ranking employees of CNA, however, told the Taipei Times that they had received phone calls from Su's aides, soliciting their opinions about CNA reform and future development.

Meanwhile, Yen Wen-shuan (顏文閂), chairman of the Taiwan Daily, yesterday denied a Chinese-language media report on Tuesday that said he had been appointed president of the CNA.

"This is not true. Nor do I have any desire to take the post."

Su has been a reporter since the late 1980s, and has been the executive editor of the Independence Morning Post, and a chief editorial writer at the Taiwan Daily News.

CNA was founded in 1924 in Guangzhou and moved to Taipei with the KMT government in 1949.