Local media were abuzz with revelations yesterday that Presidential Office secretary-general John Chang (31孝嚴), who recently transferred from his post as the KMT's secretary-general, had admitted to a recent extramarital affair.
Presidential Office spokesman Ting Yuan-chao (?B遠超), speaking on behalf of Chang yesterday, emphasized that the affair was strictly a personal matter, and that it should not be dragged into the presidential election.
"Chang feels very guilty about the affair, and he has [already] extended an apology to his wife, his family and the public," Ting said.
Ting told reporters at a hastily convened news conference that Chang briefed President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) immediately after the news broke yesterday.
"President Lee urged Chang to be honest, and to win the understanding of his wife Huang Mei-lun (黃美-?," Ting said.
The spokesman denied the affair was connected with Chang's transfer from his previous post.
The public disclosure of Chang's activities is believed to be the first time a top KMT official has publicly admitted to having an extramarital affair.
The Chinese-language evening newspaper Power News (勁3? broke the news yesterday, reporting that Chang had signed a note agreeing to complete divorce proceedings with his wife by June of next year.
The report said the note was dated Nov. 10 and had been scribbled on a memo pad from a five-star hotel in Taipei.
However, Ting said, Chang had signed the note in a "very distressed emotional state," and that he had no real intention of divorcing his wife.
The paper also said the woman Chang had been involved with was "an intellectual" on the faculty of Yuan Ze University in Taoyuan County.
Sources told the Taipei Times last night, however, that the woman has been identified as designer Wang Hsiao-chan (
Ting emphasized that the affair is strictly Chang's personal business and in no way conflicted with his work.
Chang, an illegitimate son of the late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), was a career diplomat before shifting to the Cabinet in 1996.
He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1996-97, before becoming Vice Premier, and later KMT secretary-general.
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