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Taiwan names senior DPP politician new cross-strait chief amid Beijing’s scepticism
Taipei touts former speaker of the island’s legislature as having ‘laid a solid foundation for Taiwan-Japan friendship’ in his previous role
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Yuanyue Dangin Beijing
Taiwan has appointed a senior Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politician and former liaison officer to Japan to head the semi-official group that manages cross-strait ties – a move Beijing has met with scepticism.
Su Jia-chyuan, former head of the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association under Taipei’s foreign ministry, will chair the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), according to Karen Kuo, spokeswoman for the office of Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te, on Tuesday.
The SEF is managed by Taipei’s Mainland Affairs Council and handles technical and administrative cross-strait affairs. Its mainland counterpart is the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (Arats), administered by the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO).
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Before 2016, the SEF and Arats played major roles in political communication between Taipei and Beijing, with the support of the leadership on both sides.
Su, 69, is a senior politician from the ruling independence-leaning DPP. He stood as former Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen’s running mate in the island’s 2012 election, though the pair lost to the now-opposition Kuomintang party, led by Ma Ying-jeou.
Su served as speaker of the Legislative Yuan during Tsai’s first term from 2016 to 2020. He briefly held the post of secretary general of her office during her second term.
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