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.
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