Foreign Minister George Vella yesterday did not confirm nor deny whether Sai Mizzi or Reno Calleja are being considered for the post of Malta’s Ambassador to China following the resignation of Clifford Borg Marks last week.
Contacted by The Malta Independent, Dr Vella said he had a number of names to choose from, but said that the name will be published in the coming weeks.
Sai Mizzi, who is also the wife of Energy and Health Minister Konrad Mizzi, is Malta’s envoy to China and the Far East. Her appointment has been widely criticized largely because of her €13,000 per month salary. Reno Calleja is a former Labour Tourism Minister and has deep connections with China through the Malta-China Friendship Society.
After blogger and columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia revealed that Ambassador Borg Marks had resigned, this newsroom contacted Minister Vella who confirmed that Mr Borg Marks will remain in Beijing Embassy till the end of July.
When asked why Mr Borg Marks resigned, Dr Vella quoted from the resignation letter which said the Ambassador will resign from his post because of “private and professional reasons and would like to go back to Hong Kong.” In the same letter he thanked the Maltese government for giving him this opportunity.
Dr Vella said that Mr Borg Marks is going back to Hong Kong where he lived for a number of years and practiced as a legal consultant with the Hong Kong and Beijing offices of international law firms for many years, providing China-related consultancy in foreign direct investment and intellectual property matters.
Minister Vella added that in the coming days he will announce what Mr Borg Marks’s new role in Hong Kong is going to be. Pressed to say more, Minster Vella refused to comment further.
Mr Clifford Borg Marks was appointed Maltese Ambassador to China on 11 October 2013.
Last November, through a freedom of information request, this newspaper announced that both Mr Borg Marks and investment envoy Ms Sai Mizzi enjoy the exact same contract terms.
This newspaper also sent questions to Mr Borg Marks and until we went to print we had not received a reply.