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Deputy NSC chief denies discord

"The reason I chose to leave the government has nothing to do with any interpersonal conflict or arguments about political direction. It is because I am tired and want to return to academic research."

Chang Jung-feng, former National Security Council deputy secretary-general

National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Chang Jung-feng (張榮豐) resigned last week to return to academia, he confirmed yesterday.

But he denied rumors he quit because of disagreements within the council.

"The reason I chose to leave the government has nothing to do with any interpersonal conflict or arguments about political direction," Chang told the Taipei Times yesterday. "It is because I am tired and want to return to academic research.

"Actually I expressed my desire to leave the council and return to academic circles last year," Chang said.

Chen had planned to appoint Chang as deputy chief of the National Security Bureau, but he turned down the job, a Presidential Office source said.

Chang said that he will become vice president of the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research next month.

"I told President Chen last week when I offered my resignation that I can serve as a bridge between the government and academic circles because I have been trained in both two fields and I believe that I can work for the country wherever I am," Chang said.

Some DPP heavyweights said that Chang felt frustrated because the administration didn't give him the same power he had under former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).

They said that new council head Kang Ning-hsian (康寧祥) had ignored Chang when dealing with important cases, such as the country's response to the war in Iraq, the SARS outbreak and the China's attempts to downgrade Taiwan's status in the WTO.

However, the Presidential Office source said he doubted that Chang disagreed with other members of the council or that there were conflicts between Chang and Kang.

"They have different working styles," he said.

Chang said that there was no conflict between Kang and himself.

"I have served under six secretaries-general of the council. I think that interaction has never been a problem," Chang said.

The source also denied any link between Chang's departure and a leak that the country's WTO representative Yen Ching-chang (顏慶章) had returned to Taipei to brief the government about China's maneuvers at the trade body.

"The council concluded at the very beginning that Taiwan must adopt a tough attitude to defend the country's rights in the WTO," the source said. "It is far from the truth to say that Chang's departure, with the president's agreement, was because he revealed information to the media."

Chang had been with the council for more than a decade and was authorized by Lee to take charge of many classified missions, including the personnel affairs of two Koo-Wang meetings in 1992 and 1998 and APEC meetings.

In 1999, Lee assigned Chang to assist Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), then a research fellow, to lead "the unit for strengthening the ROC's sovereignty" for developing strategies to counter China's increasing pressure in the international community.

It is thought Lee's "special state-to-state relations" remark to German media that year was a result of the research Chang conducted.

Chen accepted Lee's recommendation to invite both Chang and Tsai to serve in the government after he won the 2000 election and their existence in the government has been regarded as a symbol of continuation from the Lee administration to the Chen administration.
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