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.
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