Taiwan has appointed a senior Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politician and former liaison to Japan to head the semi-official group that manages cross-strait ties in 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 Taiwan’s 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).
The SEF and Arats had played significant roles in political communication between Taipei and Beijing, underpinned by senior leadership support 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 Jia-chyuan stood as the running mate of former Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen (right) in 2012. Photo: AFP
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.