Deputy Secretary-General of the Presidential Office James Huang (
"Minister Huang? I've never heard of that ... So far, no one has informed be about any change of my position," Huang told the media at a lunch gathering yesterday.
Speculation has run rife in Taipei's political circles over the last few days on whether Huang will be the new minister of foreign affairs.
PHOTO: CNA
At the age of 48, Huang is on a fast track to become the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration's youngest foreign minister, in line with the government policy to promote a younger generation of politicians.
Huang holds a bachelor's degree in political science from National Taiwan University and his civil-service record spans the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and DPP governments.
Beginning his political career as a diplomat, Huang entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in 1985 as the chief secretary for Chen Chien-jen (
During his stint in the foreign ministry, Huang served in the country's de facto embassy in Washington, as a section chief in the ministry's North American Affairs department and also as English interpreter for former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) and former premier Vincent Siew (蕭萬長).
In 1999 he entered the Mainland Affairs Council, where he began to develop a close working relationship with the DPP government. He was recommended to enter the Presidential Office in 2002 by former council chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (
During his service in the Presidential Office as spokesman and later as deputy chief of staff, Huang became a trustworthy aide to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Huang was the key man behind a number of successful overseas state visits by Chen, making diplomatic breakthroughs in places such as the United Arab Emirates, where Chen made a surprise stop-over in Abu Dhabi last year.
Although pundits have expressed concern that Huang's relative youth could present difficulties in commanding the hierarchical foreign ministry, where many of the senior officials are his former bosses, the foreign ministry seems to hold a generally optimistic view about his possible arrival.
Some believe that a young minister would be able to energize the ministry.
"A young minister will certainly bring in energy to the ministry and his comprehensive cross-departmental experience will be a plus to his job," a foreign ministry official said yesterday.
Additional reporting by Chiu Yu-tzu
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION: More than 100 ferry services were suspended due to rough seas and strong winds, and eight domestic flights were canceled, the ministry said Tropical Storm Wipha intensified slightly yesterday as it passed closest to Taiwan, dumping more than 200mm of rain in Hualien and Taitung counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 11am, Wipha was about 210km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west-northwest at 27km per hour (kph). The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 101kph and gusts reaching 126kph, with a 150km radius of strong winds, CWA data showed. Wipha’s outer rainbands began sweeping across Taiwan early yesterday, delivering steady rainfall in the east and scattered showers in other regions, forecasters said. More heavy rain was expected, especially in the eastern
RSS