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.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
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