Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) will serve concurrently as deputy head of the semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), the council said yesterday.
Chang will fill the position left vacant by Straits Exchange Foundation vice chairman and secretary-general Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉), who served his last day on Wednesday, the council said.
The council and Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) established a communication platform last year, paving the way for a meeting later this month between their respective chiefs, Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) and Zhang Zhijun (張志軍).
Chang has a major role in coordinating the details of the planned meeting, the Chinese-language United Evening News reported yesterday, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter.
After Chang assumes the post of SEF vice chairman and secretary-general, he is expected to integrate the two main cross-strait communication channels — between the SEF and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, and between the council and TAO, according to the report.
Since Kao tendered his resignation last month, speculation about his successor has been rife, with Chang tipped as the top candidate.
Since Chang will be holding two positions, Straits Exchange Foundation Deputy Secretary-General Maa Shaw-chang (馬紹章) will be promoted to deputy chairman to help share the workload, the council said.
Chang, who has been working at the council since 2012, formerly served in the National Security Council.
He joined the People First Party in 2000 and worked closely with its chairman, James Soong (宋楚瑜), serving as director of the party’s policy center.
In 2005, Chang arranged a meeting between Soong and former Chinese president Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), then-general secretary of Chinese Communist Party, after communicating with then-TAO chief Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
Chang’s first task upon assuming the SEF post will be to prepare for the 10th round of cross-strait talks, the United Evening News reported.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS