Two Taiwanese sisters were raped and stabbed in their aunt's apartment in Toronto recently. The older teen died and the younger was severely wounded. To deal with this tragedy, both the surviving victim and her family need professional assistance from Taiwan security officials or police staff immediately.
The family may feel especially frightened and helpless in dealing with the Canadian police or investigators. Although Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) officials in Toronto are doing their best to help the family assist the local police, it's difficult for the family to get the professional aid they need unless MOFA officials are knowledgeable and trained in public security.
The tragedy in Toronto has served to underscore the lack of professional security personnel in Taiwan's representative offices.
The demand by Taiwanese for professional security assistance from their representative offices has increased along with the growth in overseas travel -- a demand these offices are ill-equipped to deal with. As a result, it is necessary for these offices to reorganize themselves as soon as possible and to have their own security officers.
This idea was proposed long ago by the Criminal Investigation Bureau
MOFA's structure has not undergone much of a change in recent years, even though the political and administrative structure of our country has altered rapidly. MOFA's overseas offices need to make organizational adjustments and improve the division of labor to satisfy people's need for professional services.
Many developed countries have security officials or police in their embassies or representative offices overseas, including in the ROC. These officials provide assistance to their citizens, work with local police and gather information on criminal activities to send back home.
In contrast, although Taiwan needs to seize fugitives who have fled overseas, collect security or criminal information, and serve overseas Chinese, we don't have any security officials or police stationed abroad. As a consequence, we are not only unable to provide the assistance to our citizens, but we also lose many opportunities to seize criminals who have escaped to China or other countries.
Taiwan's overseas offices have staff members from the National Security Bureau
It is quite apparent that the current personnel organization of the Taiwan representative offices no longer fulfill the people's needs.
At a time when Taiwan is promoting government reform with a resounding voice, the organizational enhancement of our representative offices should be stressed. All our diplomatic offices need to be reorganized to meet the latest international situation and expectations of the people of Taiwan.
If the government cannot deploy the security personnel right away, at least more officials who have had professional security training should be recruited by our representative offices to deal with security affairs overseas.
Let's not stymie security work overseas through the flawed staffing of Taiwan representative offices.
Yang Yung-nane is a professor in the department of administrative management at Central Police University.
Translated by Eddy Chang
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
As Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s party won by a landslide in Sunday’s parliamentary election, it is a good time to take another look at recent developments in the Maldivian foreign policy. While Muizzu has been promoting his “Maldives First” policy, the agenda seems to have lost sight of a number of factors. Contemporary Maldivian policy serves as a stark illustration of how a blend of missteps in public posturing, populist agendas and inattentive leadership can lead to diplomatic setbacks and damage a country’s long-term foreign policy priorities. Over the past few months, Maldivian foreign policy has entangled itself in playing