The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday confirmed a series of diplomatic appointments, naming a new ambassador to Panama and a reshuffling of personnel in Europe.
A MOFA official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed a media report that Simon Ko (柯森耀), director-general of the Department of Central and South American Affairs, had been appointed ambassador to Panama and that Tomas Hou (侯平福), the ambassador to Panama, would assume Ko’s position.
“This is a regular rotation of personnel, as Hou has served overseas for more than a decade,” the official said.
Among the other appointments, Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡), director of the Taipei Cultural and Economic Office (TECO) in Geneva, will be Taiwan’s new representative to the EU and Belgium, while Frank Liu (劉融和), director of the Bureau of Consular Affairs, will take over as representative to the Netherlands.
Kelly Hsieh (謝武樵), head of TECO in Toronto, will take over for Shen in Geneva. Wang Kuo-ran (王國然), former deputy director of the Bureau of Consular Affairs, will be the new director of TECO in Toronto.
Outgoing officials will have two months to hand over their duties to the new appointees in line with standard practice, the official said.
MOFA declined to reveal the new representative to Singapore, saying only that the appointment was still being discussed with the city-state and would be formally announced by the Presidential Office after confirmation.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
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