Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Friday last week awarded outgoing UK Representative to Taiwan John Dennis a medal in recognition of his efforts at promoting closer Taiwan-UK relations during his four-year tenure.
In a Facebook post today, Lin said he conferred the Friendship Medal of Diplomacy upon Dennis, who has headed the British Office Taipei since December 2020, for his contributions in enhancing Taiwan-UK ties.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
During Dennis' tenure, Taipei and London signed the UK-Taiwan Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) Arrangement in November 2023.
In May last year, both sides also sealed a UK-Taiwan Organics Equivalence memorandum of understanding, the minister said.
As the UK is now an official member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a regional trade bloc that Taiwan wants to join, Lin also called on the UK to support Taipei's accession bid.
During a farewell press event on Jan. 9, Dennis himself also focused on the signing of the ETP as "a major highlight ... of my four-year posting in Taiwan."
The ETP was signed to establish a bilateral cooperation framework in three major areas: investment, energy and net-zero emissions, and digital trade, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The deal is expected to strengthen global economic security and supply chain resilience, and help maintain the free and open international trade order, the ministry said at the time.
Dennis also said during the Jan. 9 press event that his tenure in Taipei would conclude next month and he plans to retire in the spring after more than 40 years with UK foreign service.
Dennis announced that his successor is to be Ruth Bradley-Jones, who most recently served as UK deputy head of mission to Myanmar.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
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
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
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.
RSS