The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced the latest wave of a personnel reshuffle yesterday, including the appointments of new representatives to Poland, Germany and New Zealand.
Ministry spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said at a news conference that Wei Wu-lien (魏武煉), head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, has been appointed representative to Germany; Tsai Erh-huang (蔡爾晃), a former ambassador to Belize, has been appointed representative to New Zealand; and Kelly Hsieh (謝武樵), head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Toronto, has been appointed head of the Geneva bureau under the Taipei Economic and Cultural Delegation in Switzerland.
Wei will replace You Ching (尤清), a technocrat of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who resigned recently as the representative to Germany.
Other possible changes overseas include the head of Taipei representative offices in Belgium, Italy and Brazil, Chen said.
“All these new arrangements are still in the pipeline,” he said.
Meanwhile, representative to Switzerland George Liu (劉寬平) said yesterday he had tendered his resignation a day earlier in light of his dual citizenship.
Liu’s resignation came amid reports that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration was planning to replace a number of non-career diplomats appointed by the former DPP administration.
Liu, who is currently in Taipei, told the Central News Agency’s correspondent in Geneva by telephone that he had personally handed in his letter of resignation to Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) at a meeting with the minister on Tuesday morning.
The letter was written late last month as the discussion over the appropriateness of officials holding foreign citizenship or permanent residency resurfaced, Liu said.
Although Liu filed a form to renounce his US citizenship late last year before he assumed the post of representative to Switzerland in February, he is still a US citizen because US authorities have not asked him to appear at a US embassy or consulate to complete the procedure.
Liu, previously a Taiwan Solidarity Union legislator, had been named in media reports speculating which diplomatic officials were likely to be replaced in the personnel reshuffle.
Liu also expressed displeasure yesterday at the way the ministry had handled personnel issues.
Instead of directly informing those concerned of its decisions, the ministry has allowed the media to break the news, which has also sown rumors, Liu said.
“This has damaged the reputation of diplomatic officials,” he said.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
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