New Taiwan affairs spokesperson makes debut

The State Council Taiwan Affairs Office has a new spokesperson in Chen Binhua, a former reporter with lengthy experience working in Taiwan. The new appointee responded to a media question for the first time in this role on Tuesday.

Chen, the new deputy director of the information bureau of the Taiwan Affairs Office, commented on remarks from the Kuomintang's candidate for the 2024 election, Hou Yu-ih, regarding the 1992 Consensus.

Chen, 51, is from Zhao'an, a county in Zhangzhou of southern Fujian province. He speaks Hokkien fluently, a popular dialect in Taiwan. After graduating from the department of Chinese language and literature at Xiamen University, he joined Xinhua News Agency in 1993.

In February 2001, as part the first group of journalists from the mainland, he went to Taiwan on a one-month reporting trip. When arriving at the airport in Taiwan, Chen greeted the crowd in fluent Hokkien, making a deep impression on local media.

During his stay in Taiwan, Chen was famous for engaging in a heated debate with the then-deputy director of Taiwan's mainland affairs council during a press conference in September 2001. He questioned the accuracy of the spokesman's hostile speech about the mainland.

In later years, he traveled around the island and finished several books, including Enjoy Taiwan, sharing his experience there.

He once said in an interview as reporters from the mainland, it is important to have feelings for Taiwan compatriots, understand and respect them and have a sense of kinship.

He also served as deputy director of the Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao division of Xinhua and a senior reporter. In 2008, Chen was selected as a "Top 10 Journalist" by Xinhua.

After joining the Taiwan Affairs Office, he served as deputy director of the research bureau, and later moved to the position of deputy director of the economic bureau.

The Taiwan Affairs Office has had eight spokespersons, including the current Zhu Fenglian and Chen Binhua. Among them, three have a background in journalism.