Taiwan's mainland affairs authority announced on Thursday that its deputy chief Chang Hsien-yao will serve concurrently as vice chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). Chang will fill the position left vacant by former SEF Vice Chairman Kao Koong-lian, who served his last day on Thursday. Kao announced his resignation on Jan. 10. Founded in 1990, the SEF is authorized by the island to handle cross-Strait affairs, in direct dialogues with the Chinese mainland based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits