Taiwan's representative to Singapore Hu Wei-jen (
Put aside incredulity that an esteemed institution like Harvard might have room for someone who casually violates his responsibilities. The main problem is that Hu has failed his basic duty by placing personal opinion above the national interest. Not only does this violate professional ethics, it is also embarrassing for the government and damaging to Taiwan's interests.
Moreover, his behavior sets a poor example for other diplomatic officials. He should have resigned a lot earlier if his political ideals were so incompatible with those of the elected government.
Hu's claims about his employment also don't mesh with the facts. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told him in April that he was to be moved. During that time the ministry considered sending former chief of the general staff Lee Tien-yu (
Hu is the son of Army General Hu Tsung-nan (
But the DPP has treated him well. After the party came to power in 2000, Hu was allowed to remain deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council, and later appointed Taiwan's representative to Germany before transferring to Singapore.
This seems to mean nothing to Hu Wei-jen, whose actions were a deliberate attempt to humiliate the DPP government and thereby curry favor with the KMT -- presumably to improve his chances of acquiring a post of influence for himself if the KMT wins next year's presidential election.
Hu Wei-jen's behavior constitutes a serious breach of protocol. The ministry should do more than just mumble about "regretting" the incident.
After Hu Wei-jen returns to Taiwan, Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (
The interests of the country are more important than those of any individual or party. Demeaning a government, a country and its people is a line that no one in the foreign service may cross.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under