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Taiwan has appointed a new representative to Hong Kong  who is keen  on increasing exchanges and relations with the city,  despite the cross-strait stalemate.
Jeff Yang Jia-jun, who is heading to Hong Kong tomorrow  to take up his new post, will succeed Pao Cheng-kang  as managing director of the Chung Hwa Travel Service,  the Taiwanese representative office in the absence of formal ties.
'I hope to further better our services based on what has been established by my predecessor,' said the 49-year-old former regulation director of the Mainland Affairs Council, the island's top mainland policy planning body.
'Of course, I hope to set up a more effective communication platform between the two sides, and this is what the [Taiwan] government  is hoping to achieve.'
Such a platform could  help Taiwanese understand Hong Kong better, said Mr Yang, who has spent the past six months studying  developments in Hong Kong.
He said there were many things Taiwan could learn from Hong Kong, especially in the financial services sector.
He said Hong Kong should not be seen as just a shopping centre. It was much more than this, he  said, adding that part of his mission in his three years in office would be to enhance Taiwanese understanding of Hong Kong and vice versa.
'For example, the lifestyle and the way the people of Hong Kong think and put things into practice,' Mr Yang said.
'These are things that we hope to let Taiwanese people understand.'
Mr Yang's  contacts with Hong Kong  are limited to a shopping trip with his wife about 10 years  ago, and his Hong Kong classmates during his school days in Taiwan.
But being a new  hand in terms of Hong Kong affairs was actually an advantage for him, Mr Yang said, because  it allowed him to be curious about everything and look at things from a  fresh perspective.
'You know, I was surprised when the Mainland Affairs Council  decided to send me to Hong Kong,' Mr Yang said.
With the support of his wife and two sons and a vision to experience new things to maximise his career, he had decided to pack and go.
'Of course, the entire family will go with me to Hong Kong,' he said as he did not want to leave his wife to take care of their two sons, aged 16 and  17, alone in Taiwan.
Asked if he felt relations between Taiwan and Hong Kong were sour because of the mainland's attitude towards the island, Mr Yang said he did not think so, given that there had been active bilateral exchanges at economic, academic and cultural levels, although political contacts were very limited.
He said  if Hong Kong opened an office in Taiwan, it would help a great deal in promoting bilateral exchanges.
But the Taiwanese side respected the decision of Hong Kong on whether it would do so.
Hong Kong  does not have  a representative office in Taiwan, limiting communication between the two sides.
Mr Yang said  Hong Kong-Taiwan relations could serve as an indicator to cross-strait relations.
He said  his background with the Investigation Bureau would not be a problem  after he took office.
'That job merely dealt with crime and corruption, and had nothing to do with intelligence,' said Mr Yang, who was a bureau agent for  2? years.
He said he later went to the United States where he pursued a masters degree in fair-trade law.
Mr Yang returned to Taiwan to work for the Board of Foreign Trade  and the  Ministry of Economic Affairs, before moving to the Fair Trade Commission  and  then to the regulations department of the Mainland Affairs Council.



Taiwan's new envoy to HK eager to improve ties and exchanges