Shih issued the denial after The Next Magazine reported that when accompanying an Australian VIP to call on the then President Chen in late 2005 in her capacity as Taiwan’s deputy representative to Australia, Shih told Chen that she had served in Australia for years and therefore hoped to have a chance to return to Taiwan to take a suitable post.

The magazine described Shih as a “political chameleon” for trying to seeking a post from Chen.

“The report is totally wrong, and the erroneous report has seriously undermined my character,” Shih said.

Shih told the press that by the end of the visit to Chen in late 2005, Chen did ask her about her working situation in Australia and instructed her to give a short resume to Huang Chih-fang, then deputy secretary general of the Presidential Office. But Shih said she didn’t follow the instructions.

Shih continued that after returning to Australia, she wrote a letter to Huang, clearly indicating her willingness to stay on her post in Australia to help new representative Lin Sung-fang develop substantive ties with Australia.

There were quite a few officials with the Presidential Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs present at that meeting, with all the dialogue transparent and verifiable, Shih said.

She called for news media to make detailed checks before issuing any reports, lest they should hurt people involved in the reports.

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