Government Information Office Minister Vanessa Shih (史亞平) yesterday rebutted a media report that said she had once sought a position in the former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration, but said she had sent a letter to the Presidential Office in response to a request for her resume.
Next Magazine reported that Shih had expressed her interest to then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to work for the government in late 2005 when she accompanied guests from Australia to a meeting with Chen in the capacity of the country’s deputy representative to Australia.
RUMORS
The magazine said Chen was in favor of employing Shih after she sent in her resume, but later scrapped the idea after the administration turned up negative rumors about Shih while assessing her appointment.
Shih yesterday said the report was untrue and had damaged her reputation.
At the meeting with Chen and the Australian visitors in 2005, the president asked about her work in Australia and requested that she send her resume to Presidential Office deputy secretary-general James Huang (黃志芳), Shih said.
NO THANKS
Shih said that after she returned to Australia she sent a letter to the Presidential Office explaining that she had decided to stay in Australia because Representative to Australia Lin Song-huann (林松煥) had been appointed only recently and might need her help.
Chen responded by saying that he respected her decision, Shih said, and she continued to work in Australia until October last year, when she was transferred back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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