Katharine Chang (
"I'm always afraid to be in the lead," said a smiling Chang, dressed in a dark-blue suit and sophisticated set of pearl earrings and necklace.
The 48-year-old woman has outshone her female counterparts in Taiwan's diplomatic circles since she joined the foreign service in 1976.
In January 1995, Chang became Taiwan's first female representative when she was assigned to head the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Seattle.
In late 1997, she became Taiwan's first female ambassador when she took up the post as Taiwan's ambassador to St Kitts and Nevis and the Commonwealth of Dominica.
Chang admitted that women had some "constraints" in working as diplomats as they also had to shoulder their responsibilities as wives and mothers.
But the seasoned female diplomat said those women who were interested in joining the foreign service should shake off the expectations of society and give pursuing the path of a professional diplomat a go.
"One should live for oneself instead of living under others' expectations," Chang said.
"I don't have any children so I have relatively few obligations. And my husband has been very supportive of my job," Chang said.
When asked if she worried about the fact that her husband had stayed in Taiwan when she was posted in the West Indies, Chang's answer was firm: "I am indeed at ease as we've been married for over 20 years."
Taiwan's foreign ministry for a number of years used a quota to govern the recruitment of female diplomats, and it was not until 1996 that it was cancelled. Over the years, some women in the foreign ministry have given up their careers as diplomats because of their perceived responsibilities as wives and mothers.
Chang takes over the post of director general of the ministry's Department of Information and Cultural Affairs from Henry Chen (
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
DETERRENCE: Along with US$500 million in military aid and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees, the bill would allocate US$400 million to countering PRC influence The US House of Representatives on Friday approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025 that includes US$500 million in military aid for Taiwan. The legislation, which authorizes funding for the US Department of State, US foreign operations and related programs for next year, passed 212-200 in the Republican-led House. The bill stipulates that the US would provide no less than US$500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to enhance deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, and offer Taipei up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose. The funding would be made available under the US’ Foreign Military