TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former Environment Protection Administration (EPA) chief and public health expert Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) has been appointed ambassador to Thailand, the Presidential Office announced on Thursday (June 11).

Lee will succeed Tung Chen-yuan (童振源), who has replaced Wu Hsin-hsing (吳新興) as head of the Overseas Community Affairs Council.

The 67-year-old health economist, who graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was elected as a legislator in 1995. In 2005, he was appointed as labor minister and became EPA chief in 2016.

Lee was also a pioneer of Taiwan's pro-democracy and pro-independence movements while studying in the U.S. before the Kuomintang government lifted martial law in 1987. He was arrested for anti-state activities a year after he returned home and was imprisoned for nine months.

The Presidential Office also announced that Lee Nan-yang (李南陽), former envoy to Ireland and Slovakia, will return to head the Representative Office in Slovakia after a 10-year hiatus.