Taipei: Former Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan has been appointed by President Lai Ching-te as chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), according to the Presidential Office on Tuesday.

According to Focus Taiwan, the appointment was made public in a news statement issued by the Presidential Office on Tuesday evening. Su had long been widely tipped for the post after his predecessor, Frank Wu, announced his resignation on December 18.

The SEF is a semi-official organization tasked by Taiwan's government with handling matters involving Taiwanese people visiting, living in, or doing business with China, as well as facilitating exchanges between the two sides.

Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo stated that Lai invited Su to take the post, citing his "extensive political experience and successful track record in international exchanges." Kuo further mentioned that Lai expressed hope that Su will strengthen SEF's operations and help promote "positive and healthy" cross-strait exchanges.

Apart from serving as Legislative Speaker, Su, a member of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), has previously held various key positions, including legislator, Pingtung County magistrate, interior minister, and secretary-general to the president.

Most recently, Su served for over three years as chairman of the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association, which manages Taipei's interests in Tokyo in the absence of official diplomatic ties. He was succeeded in this role on January 6 by Frank Hsieh, Taiwan's former representative to Japan.

It remains unclear when Su will officially assume the SEF chairman post, as the statement did not specify the effective date of the appointment, and the SEF's website had not yet listed the 69-year-old as chairman at the time of reporting. Wu served until December 31, 2025, leaving the foundation without a chairman since then.