The State Council has appointed Wang Yi as director of its Taiwan Affairs Office to replace Chen Yunlin, according to the council.

The cabinet also ended Wang's post as vice foreign minister and Chen Yunlin's post as director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. Chen was elected on Tuesday as chief of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).

Wang, a Beijing native born in October 1953, had once taken government posts including director of the Asian affairs department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, assistant foreign minister, vice foreign minister, ambassador to Japan and after that vice foreign minister.

He once headed the Chinese delegation in six party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue in 2007.

Wang delivered a keynote speech on Tuesday at an executive meeting of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).

Sources said Wang likes mountaineering. He has a daughter.

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2008)