TAIWAN ENVOY CHANG LIANG-JEN'S MAKES HIS FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE IN HONG KONG, 2001-02-05 (photo)

Chang Liang-jen, managing director of the Chung Hwa Travel Service which represents Taiwan's interests in Hong Kong, makes his first public appearance at a stamp exhibition after his arrival in the territory last Wednesday February 5, 2001. As Taiwan's de facto envoy, Chang arrived in Hong Kong after a year-long dispute over his working visa and reportedly vowed that political issues would not be on his agenda. Relations between Hong Kong and Taiwan soured in 1999 after Chang's predecessor, Cheng An-kuo, defended former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's theory that the island had special state-to-state relations with mainland China. Above Chang is a set of stamps commemorating the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. BY/CP