Following revelations of involvement in an extramarital affair, Presidential Office Secretary-General John Chang (31孝嚴) tendered his resignation to President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday.
In his resignation, Chang admitted that due to "personal factors," he was no longer able to properly fulfill his position, and that he had therefore requested to leave office as soon as possible.
Yesterday was the first time since the news broke on Tuesday that the secretary-general had faced the media.
PHOTO: SUNG CHIH-HSIUNG, LIBERTY TIMES
Chang was repentant at a hastily-called press conference at the Presidential Office.
"The mistake was the biggest and most irreparable I have ever made in my entire life," he said.
"With a shameful heart, I admit my mistake and have tendered my resignation to the president," he added.
Chang is the first Presidential Office secretary-general to quit his job under such circumstances. He is also the shortest-serving chief of the Presidential Office, having served only 45 days after previously holding the post of KMT secretary-general.
Presidential Office spokesman Ting Yuan-chao (?B遠超), who acted as Chang's spokesman yesterday, said that in spite of the president's initial unwillingness to accept the resignation, President Lee felt that the situation was such that he had no other choice.
Ting said the president had no immediate plans to reassign Chang.
Chang said that he wanted to take time not just to reflect on his behavior, but also to spend more time with his "beloved family."
Chang's wife, Huang Mei-lun(黃美-?, also attended the press conference, saying that both she and her children would forgive Chang.
"We will give him all the support he needs, and hope our lives will return to normal as soon as possible,'' she said.
The affair came to light in the form of a note signed by Chang and obtained by the media, in which he promised the woman involved -- Wang Hsiao-chan (?y殼N嬋), a former TV actress now working as an interior designer -- that he would complete arrangements for a divorce before next June.
Spokesman Ting had said previously that the note was signed under "abnormal circumstances."
Chang emphasized that his resignation had nothing to do with the upcoming presidential election next March.
Ting quoted him as saying that there should be no misunderstanding regarding the reasons for his resignation since Chang was neither a candidate, nor had any electoral duties.
Chang's successor, who will begin work today, is senior presidential advisor Ding Mou-shih (?B懋時), who once served as Taiwan's chief representative in Washington, DC, and also as foreign minister.
He will also serve concurrently as acting secretary-general of the National Security Council in place of incumbent Yin Tsung-wen (
"In the president's consideration, Ding is the most suitable candidate for the job. As far as I understand, the president never considered another person for the job,'' a spokesman for the president said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary