With Taiwan's diplomatic corps expected to witness an unprecedented personnel reshuffle beginning in late October, analysts said yesterday that the move was necessary if Taiwan's depleting diplomatic force were to be fully replenished.
"Such a large-scale reshuffle is a must," said Teng Chung-chian (
Responding to reports that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was to start a large-scale reshuffle soon, foreign minister Tien Hung-mao (
"We definitely need capable and experienced diplomats in their 50s to go and work in EU countries in order to open a new stage in Taiwan's ties with the EU, which has become one of the major focuses of President Chen Shui-bian's (
Taiwan's representative offices in Italy, France, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands and Germany are to see new heads at the ambassador level, said foreign ministry officials, who refused to be named.
Over half of the foreign ministry's director-generals in charge of regional affairs will be involved in the reshuffle, MOFA officials said.
Tien held a confidential meeting two weeks ago in Hsinchu with these director-generals to appraise their general understanding of regional affairs and to ascertain whether they would be willing to cooperate in the upcoming reshuffle, foreign ministry officials said.
Tien has stressed that ambassadors above the age of 68 would be encouraged to retire from their current posts, and that those who did not have strong experience in diplomatic affairs would top his list for replacement.
Seventy-one-year-old Hsia Tien (
Sixty-eight-year-old Chen Yu-chu (
Teng said the key consideration for the scholar-turned-foreign minister in carrying out the reshuffle was to seek "appropriate" diplomats capable of "realizing the foreign policy objectives" of the administration.
"Although age is one of the key variables, another major consideration is whether the prospective appointees can carry out the major objectives of the foreign ministry under the new administration," Teng said.
The removal of ageing ambassadors, of course, could allow younger talent from Taiwan's diplomatic corps to work in the front line, thus revitalizing the corps, Teng said.
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
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