Joseph Wu
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| Joseph Wu | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 吳釗燮 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 呉钊燮 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Joseph Wu or Jaushieh Wu (Chinese: 吳釗燮; pinyin: Wú Zhāoxiè; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ngô͘ Chiau-siat; born 31 October 1954) is the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China and was formerly Secretary-General to the President of the Republic of China and the Secretary-General of the National Security Council. From 2007 to 2008, he was chief representative of Taiwan to the United States as the head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington, D.C., having been appointed to that position by President Chen Shui-bian to succeed his predecessor, David Lee. On 26 February 2018, he took the Foreign Minister post, again succeeding David Lee.
Educational background
Prior to entering politics, he was an academic political scientist, finishing his PhD in political science in 1989 at Ohio State University. He wrote papers critical of the PRC while in the United States. He served as a teacher and research assistant in the political science department of Ohio State University in the United States, and as deputy director of the Institute of International Relations of National Chengchi University in Taiwan.[1]
Rise in politics
Formerly the Deputy Secretary General of the Presidential Office for President Chen Shui-bian, Wu was appointed the chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, the body charged with coordinating relations with Mainland China (the People's Republic of China), by Chen in May 2004.
His appointment as Chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council proved somewhat controversial due to his reputation as a supporter of Taiwan independence, especially in light of the simultaneous appointment as foreign minister of former independence activist Mark Chen. Wu was the only non-Kuomintang representative of the ROC to the United States.
His tenure as head of TECRO lasted one year and three months.[2]
Cross-strait relations
On 11 April 2013, the ROC Cabinet approved a bill to establish a Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) branch office in Mainland China and an Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) office in Taiwan. Wu - who was once the ROC Minister of Mainland Affairs Council - said that for the ARATS office to be established in Taiwan, it would need to have three prerequisites: the office should never evolve to become like the PRC Liaison Office in Hong Kong; the office's mandate must be clearly defined; and the officers must adhere to international diplomatic regulations.[3]
References
- ^ Hsu, Jenny W. (June 22, 2008). "Chuang vows to hold hunger strike". Taipei Times. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
- ^ Jason Yuan places better US ties at top of priorities Taipei Times Jul 2, 2008, Page 3
- ^ "Ma ignoring Chinese hostility: TSU chairman". Taipei Times. May 19, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
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