Wang Yu-Chi, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council Chief Who Handled China Relations, Resigns

Wang Yu-chi, the head of Taiwan’s China policy-making body Mainland Affairs Council, has resigned, officials said Tuesday. Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that the resignation followed a decision by the country’s prosecutors to drop a case against his former deputy, Chang Hsien-yao, who allegedly leaked state secrets to China.

Wang reportedly said Tuesday that while he did not agree with the prosecutors' decision to drop the case against Chang he was willing to take responsibility for his deputy's removal from office. Wang had alleged that Chang, who was forced to submit his resignation in August 2014, had violated the law by leaking secrets related to Taiwan’s sensitive relations with China, CNA reported.

Prosecutors said Tuesday that the case against Chang was dropped because of lack of evidence after a months-long investigation. Chang, who became deputy head of MAC in 2012, was the country’s deputy negotiator with China from February 2014 until his departure.

Chang had denied the accusations made by Wang, who was due to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Zhang Zhijun on the Taiwanese island of Quemoy last weekend, the South China Morning Post reported. The talks were canceled after TransAsia Flight GE 235 crashed into the Keelung river near Taipei on Feb. 3, killing at least 35 people.

The Mainland Affairs Council is expected to hold a briefing later, Reuters reported.