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.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
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