New Mainland Affairs Council deputy ministers named

Taipei, June 22 (CNA) Chen Ming-chi (陳明祺), chairman of the Institute of Sociology at National Tsing Hua University, is to assume the position of deputy minister of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the council announced Friday.

Also assuming the post of deputy minister of MAC is Lee Li-chen (李麗珍), the incumbent MAC chief secretary, on July 2.

Chen and Lee will take over one of the positions left vacant when Lin Cheng-yi (林正義) and Chang Tien-chin (張天欽), who had left MAC to serve as chief executive and spokesman of the Institute for National Security Studies and as vice chairman of the Transitional Justice Commission, respectively, in May.

Chen said he hopes to work closely with the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), which is tasked with handling affairs related to cross-Taiwan Strait exchanges.

As the semester is coming to an end, he will step down from his position as chairman next week to be ready for his MAC appointment, Chen said.

Although the current political atmosphere between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait is sluggish, that does not mean that understanding of China needs to be lost, Chen went on, adding that it is hoped in the future that mutual assistance can be promoted between the societies of Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Chen, who holds a doctorate in sociology from Yale University, is also an associate professor and has focused his academic research on economic sociology and overseas Taiwanese business industry research.