Foreign Minister Laurie Chan 2005 (cropped)

Laurie Hok Si Chan (born April 6, 1965) is a

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and diplomat from the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

. He served as

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 2002 to 2006 and served in the

National Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

as MP for West Guadalcanal Constituency from 2001 to 2010.CV on Chan at National Parliament website
In May 2009, he was named Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs in Prime Minister

Derek Sikua David Derek Sikua (born 10 October 1959Sikua CV at Parliament website
) served as th ...

's government, and was fired from this same position in April 2010. Chan was first elected to the National Parliament in the December 2001 election and served as Minister for Finance and Treasury from March 30, 2002 until December 8, 2002. He was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs on December 12, 2002 and served in that position until May 5, 2006, when he was removed from office following the resignation of

Snyder Rini Snyder Rini (born 27 July 1948Rini CV at Parliament website
) is a

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

on April 26, 2006. Chan's father, businessman Thomas Koh Chan (陳國強) and leader of the Association of Independent Members party, has been accused of helping bring Rini to power through bribery. Chan was a member of the Bills and Legislation Committee in Parliament from May 2006 until the end of his term in 2010. He did not stand as a candidate to defend his seat in the August 2010 general election, standing down from Parliament. Moses Garu succeeded him as MP for West Guadalcanal. In 2011, he was appointed as ambassador to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. The Solomons are one of the few countries to recognise the Republic of China rather than the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and Chan had supported continued relations with Taiwan when he was Minister for Foreign Affairs. He began to serve as ambassador on 21 March 2012."Chan officially commissioned as Taiwanese envoy"
, ''Solomon Star'', 22 March 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chan, Laurie 1965 births Living people Ambassadors of the Solomon Islands to Taiwan Association of Independent Members politicians Finance Ministers of the Solomon Islands Foreign Ministers of the Solomon Islands Justice ministers of the Solomon Islands Members of the National Parliament of the Solomon Islands People from Guadalcanal Province Solomon Islands people of Chinese descent