The outgoing minister of foreign affairs, Mark Chen (
Chen, who is slated to become secretary-general of the Presidential Office today, said yesterday that "the youngest minister is coming tomorrow. I hope the ministry's staff can give their utmost support to him. As much as you supported an old minister [like me], you should extend your support to the young minister as well."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday held a series of farewell parties to give send-offs to Chen and outgoing chairwoman of the ministry's Research and Planning Committee May-sing Yang (楊黃美幸), who has been named the new deputy head of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee.
Chen yesterday commended Huang as having an excellent grip on foreign affairs and possessing a delicate sense of judgment on the situation.
Chen's remarks appeared to be intended to defuse doubts that Huang's relative youth would make it difficult for him to command the hierarchical foreign ministry, where many senior officials are Huang's former bosses.
Commenting on his new posting as chief of staff of the Presidential Office, Chen said his nearly two years of experience in the foreign ministry would be a valuable asset to the new job. He also noted that another primary task would be to help promote the constitutional re-engineering project President Chen Shui-bian (
"I believe the reason President Chen appointed me as his chief of staff is my background and experience in foreign affairs, as well as my contacts and connections in the Democratic Progressive Party, which form a good basis for me to liaise between the Presidential Office, the Cabinet and the party," Chen said.
The ministry yesterday also awarded a medal of diplomacy to the outgoing director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Douglas Paal, who is scheduled to leave Taiwan today.
Expressing his gratitude to colleagues and staff at the foreign ministry, Paal yesterday said a good example of collaboration with his Taiwanese colleagues was the acquisition of the site in Neihu for the AIT's new office building.
"While we still await authorization for the building itself from Washington, I am confident it will come in time and stand as a proud symbol of America's long-term commitment to Taiwan," Paal said.
Paal said the US is deploying personnel to fit with Taiwan's modern social, political and economic developments.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
A court has approved Kaohsiung prosecutors’ request that two people working for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Dai-hua (林岱樺) be detained, as a probe into two cases allegedly involving her continues. The request was made on Friday, after prosecutors raided Lin’s two offices and the staffers’ residences, and questioned five on suspicion of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪汙治罪條例). The people included the directors of Lin’s Daliao (大寮) and Linyuan (林園) district offices in Kaohsiung, surnamed Chou (周) and Lin (林) respectively, as well as three other staffers. The prosecutors’ move came after they interrogated Lin Dai-hua on Wednesday. She appeared solemn following
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