Chinese State Council, or the central government, has appointed a new high-ranking official for its Taiwan Affairs Office.

Ye Kedong, 46, was appointed the deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

Li Bingcai and Wang Zaixi were removed from their posts as deputy directors of the office.

Ye graduated from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou City in 1982, and served in the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council in the early 1990s.

He was the deputy head of the Taiwan affairs division of Hong Kong branch office, Xinhua News Agency (the central government's Hong Kong liaison office) before 1997.

He also served as the director of the Department of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Related to Taiwan, and assistant to the director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

(Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2006)