Taiwan is consulting Washington on the appointment of its next representative to the US, Taipei's deputy representative to the US Tung Kuo-yu (董國猷) said on Friday.
Tung said he expected the US government’s response would come soon, adding that the name of the candidate would not be made public until all the procedures are completed.
Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), the incumbent representative to the US and a non-career diplomat who was appointed to the post by the former Democratic Progressive Party administration, tendered his resignation on May 20 upon the inauguration of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration.
The vacancy would reportedly be filled by Jason Yuan (袁健生), who has served as the KMT’s and the People First Party’s (PFP) representative to the US since 2004. Yuan formerly served as director-general of Taiwan’s Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Los Angeles.
Chang Ta-tung (張大同), the KMT and PFP’s deputy representative to the US, would allegedly be appointed deputy representative. Chang was formerly chief of the Congressional Liaison Division at the TECRO office in the US.
In related news, TECRO in Washington held a Starlight Film Screening on the main lawn of the Twin Oaks estate on Friday night to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the former residence of Republic of China ambassadors.
More than 200 people attended the screening of Fishing Luck, a story of a young woman from Taipei and an indigenous Tao youth from Orchid Island (蘭嶼). The film was directed by Golden Horse-award-winning Taiwanese director Tseng Wen-chen (曾文珍).
The second night of the outdoor film screening, scheduled for yesterday, was to feature the film Chocolate Rap by noted Taiwanese director Chi Y. Lee.
Among those in attendance at the screening on Friday were Wu, Taiwanese students studying in the area and other young overseas Taiwanese.
Bi Tzu-an (畢祖安), secretary of TECRO’s Cultural Division, said that many young Taiwanese jumped at the opportunity upon hearing about the screening, with one group driving more than four hours from West Virginia to attend.
Several Americans in attendance praised the event as a creative approach to cultural exchange and said they hoped similar events would be held in future.
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man
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