The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is looking to recruit 40 students as part of its annual youth ambassadors program to take part in a 10-day trip to Caribbean ally Saint Lucia that it hopes will enhance bilateral ties and broaden the students’ worldviews.
The ministry said it started accepting applications yesterday.
Applicants must be Taiwanese nationals aged 18 to 35 and be in a university or graduate school program in Taiwan, Department of NGO International Affairs Director-General Constance Wang (王雪虹) said.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Taiwanese in that age group with a good command of English, or with special talents in the performing arts such as singing or dancing, are welcome to apply, she said.
Given that Saint Lucia’s economy is based on tourism and agriculture, the ministry is hoping to find four to five young Taiwanese who have won national-level cooking contests to join this year’s youth ambassador delegation, Wang said.
“We are hoping that their cooking skills can help connect people in the two countries and promote food diplomacy in the process,” she said.
Application forms can be downloaded from mofa.gov.tw and should be sent by registered mail to the Department of NGO International Affairs by June 30.
Those selected would need to undergo two weeks of training in Taipei before visiting Saint Lucia from Sept. 2 to 11.
Since its launch in 2009, the annual initiative has sent 1,800 youth ambassadors to other countries to take part in volunteer activities and seminars, and deliver cultural performances, the ministry said.
Trips were postponed in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In other developments, National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) on Monday met with visiting Research Council of Lithuania Chairman Gintaras Valincius to promote scientific research cooperation between the two countries, most notably in the field of laser and biomedical technologies.
Taiwan and Lithuania have had a close relationship in the past few years, and the two sides would seek to deepen bilateral scientific research cooperation, Wu said during his meeting with Valincius.
Valincius said he had been deeply impressed by Taiwan’s scientific research development during his previous visit, and since becoming head of Lithuania’s research council, he is promoting the signing of a cooperation agreement between the two sides.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS