Taipei, March 31 (CNA) Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) denied a newspaper report Thursday on the next government's diplomatic appointments that include former Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and former Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).
The report on the front page of the pro-DPP Liberty Times is "not true," said party spokesman Ruan Jhao-syong (阮昭雄), who asked the media to refer to formal announcements in the future.
Lu, who the paper said is to become Taiwan's ambassador to Panama, also denied the report, saying that she has not considered such a move and will not consider seeking any job in the DPP government that will be sworn in May 20.
Su, who was reported by the newspaper to be tapped as the new government's representative to Singapore, said through his office that he has no knowledge of the personnel arrangement.
In addition to Lu and Su, former Foreign Minister James Huang (黃志芳) will go to Jakarta as Taiwan's envoy to Indonesia, according to the Liberty Times report, penned by the paper's Deputy editor-in-chief, Tzou Jiing-wen.
The paper also repeated earlier news reports that career diplomat Stanley Kao (高碩泰) will be Taiwan's next representative to the United States and that former Premier Frank Hsish (謝長廷) will be posted in Tokyo as Taiwan's envoy to Japan.
"This reporter has sought clarification from each of those named (in this article) and has learned that they have been consulted by President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and have given a positive response," Tzou claimed in her report.
"The deployment of party elders in an effort to secure the development of Taiwan's external relations is seen as a skillful play in the (new government's) distribution of power," according to Tzou.
The appointments "also meet the needs of the new government's policies," she said.
The Liberty Times has published several articles on possible appointments by the incoming administration, including the naming of David Lee (李大維), a former representative to the U.S., as Taiwan's next foreign minister.
(By Lu Hsin-hui and Elizabeth Hsu)
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