Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) yesterday dismissed rumors that New Southbound Policy Office Director James Huang (黃志芳) is to be appointed representative to Singapore, saying Huang was not on the list of candidates.
Lee made the remarks during a legislative plenary session as he was being grilled by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers over a newspaper report claiming that Huang’s rumored appointment had been dropped.
DPP Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) asked Lee whether the appointment of a representative to Singapore was still in progress and if Huang remained the government’s preferred pick.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
“I have read news reports about Huang being tapped for the position ... it is different to our understanding of the matter,” Lee said.
The former foreign minister is not on the shortlist for the post, he said.
As the job has been vacant since former representative to Singapore Jacob Chang’s (張大同) resignation was approved on May 20, DPP Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) voiced concerns over the lengthy process.
“Due to the special nature of our relations with Singapore, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has given serious thought to Chang’s successor,” Lee said, adding that it might take another month for the matter to be finalized.
Rumors that Huang was up for the job emerged shortly after the president’s initial pick, former deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council Antonio Chiang (江春男), stepped down from his post after being stopped for drunk driving on Aug. 2.
However, an article published yesterday by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) cited a presidential decree signed by Tsai on Sept. 13 allowing Huang to rejoin the civil service as a grade-12 secretary at the Presidential Office as a sign that Huang’s reported appointment might have run aground.
Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said that James Huang was employed as a grade-12 secretary on May 20 and that his grade had nothing to do with rumors that he was rehired after an overseas posting was canceled.
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