Former legislative speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) has been appointed by President William Lai (賴清德) as chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), the Presidential Office said yesterday.
The appointment was made public in a news statement issued by the Presidential Office yesterday evening.
Su had long been widely tipped for the post after his predecessor, Frank Wu (吳豊山), announced his resignation on Dec. 18.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The SEF is a semi-official organization tasked by the government with handling matters involving Taiwanese visiting, living in or doing business with China, as well as exchanges between the two sides.
Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in the statement that Lai invited Su to take the post, citing his "extensive political experience and successful track record in international exchanges."
Kuo said Lai also expressed hope that Su would strengthen the foundation's operations and help promote "positive and healthy" cross-strait exchanges.
Apart from serving as legislative speaker, Su, a member of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), has previously served in posts including legislator, Pingtung County commissioner, interior minister and secretary-general to the president, the statement said.
Su most recently served for more than three years as chairman of the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association, which represents Taipei’s interests in Tokyo in the absence of diplomatic ties.
He was succeeded in the role on Tuesday last week by Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), Taiwan’s former representative to Japan.
It was not immediately clear when Su would officially assume the post, as the statement did not specify the effective date of the appointment, and the SEF’s Web site had not yet listed the 69-year-old as chairman as of press time last night.
Wu served until Dec. 31 last. year, leaving the foundation without a chairman since then.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS