Wed, Sep 29, 2004 page3

• Huang returns a real hero

  • By Lin Chieh-yu / STAFF REPORTER
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  Taiwan achieved its best performance by winning six medals, including two gold, during the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games, which held its closing ceremony yesterday. However, one of the most famous heroes of Taiwan's delegation is not an athlete but the Deputy Secretary-General of the Presidential Office James Huang (黃志芳), who outmaneuvered China's diplomatic machinations and helped first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) accomplish her trip to Athens.

  Huang, 46-years-old, was promoted from the post of Presidential Office spokesman to his current job after President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration on May 20. Before this, his fourth post in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government since 2001, Huang had 16 years of experience under the former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government. Fourteen of these were at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and two were at Mainland Affairs Council (MAC).

  These 16 years of training in diplomacy became one of Huang's most valuable assets, because he developed excellent skills in countering China's pressures in the international arena.

  During the 2001's Shanghai APEC meeting, Chen originally assigned former vice president Li Yuan-zu (李元簇) as the representative of the president to attend the informal leaders' meeting, but was boycotted by China.

  Even when Taiwan's representative delegation had arrived in Shanghai, they still had to negotiate with the Chinese government and were unable to break through China's blockade.

  Later the Presidential Office disclosed that among the delegation, the key person who was able to think clearly and tactically was James Huang, who at the time was still a deputy section chief

  "Though our delegation on the front lines was bullied in the negotiation process, Huang's quick responses and coordination of staff was the reason that the delegation was able to stay together. It could be descirbed as Huang's first triumphant battle, and was the reason that Chen decided to promote this professional and skillful bureaucrat to become the spokesperson for the presidential office," Premier Yu Shyi-kun said.

  At the time, Yu was the secretary-general of the Presidential Office.

  During the past three years, Huang passed numerous tests to win the trust of not only the first family, but also Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮).

  During the Athens Paralympic Games, Huang served as the commander of the delegation, instead of a technical staff member. Huang made all of the decisions during the negotiations with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and ultimately ensured Wu's dignity and the delegation's rights were protected.

  "China's tactics this time were to try to lock up the first lady inside Taiwan, or failing that, inside the hotel in Athens, silencing her voice and making her invisible. But we were able to come out of that, our goal was achieved and we outsmarted China's tactic," Huang told the Taipei Times.

  The first lady led Taiwan's delegation to Athens on Sept. 11, and returned to Taiwan on Sept. 20. During her 10-day trip, an IPC spokesman admitted during an interview with Agence France Presse that it suffered pressure from China.

  The IPC asked Wu to stop all public activities and even tried to cancel Wu's National Paralympics Committee (NPC) card, which is a top-class VIP card given to the heads of National Paralympics delegations.

  "However, the IPC made many tactical mistakes, and on the contrary, we completely defended our bottom line by being well prepared with all bargaining chips," Huang said.

  "When we arrived in Athens, the IPC began threatening to take back the first lady's NPC card as well as canceling her qualifications as the Taiwanese delegation's head. I wrote letters to the IPC every day to strongly express our protests," Huang said. "I think that we won because we displayed our resolution and also made the effort of avoiding making damages to IPC's reputation."

  The turning point for the deadlock between the IPC and the delegation on how to recognize Wu was a meeting on Sept. 26 between Huang and IPC officials.

  "I told them that I will hold an international press conference and publicize all the documents the IPC gave us, to prove how the IPC inappropriately interfered with Taiwan's rights and was reckless in its treatment of a wheelchair-bound lady," Huang said

  "I made a concession promising that I would not proceed with the official procedure of confirming Wu's NPC card, which meant that the IPC could tell China it canceled our card, but the conditions are that IPC could not question Wu's position as Taiwan delegation's head nor block or interfere with all of Wu's public appearances," Huang said.

  The IPC accepted Huang's suggestion, which ultimately ensured that the first lady accomplished a successful mission and the IPC also had an excuse to interact with China.
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