Although retired diplomat William Yui (
So when the 38-year-old Yui received the Outstanding Diplomat Award yesterday, the first such prize presented by the Executive Yuan, together with 10 other winners from various government units, his smile betrayed his emotions.
The awards ceremony was held at the Executive Yuan yesterday morning and followed by a similar event at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the afternoon.
PHOTO: LIAO CHENG-HUI, TAIPEI TIMES
The older Yui has encouraged his son, now a section chief at the ministry in charge of Central American affairs, to work on the diplomatic front line, where he sees relations between Taipei and Beijing as the real battlefield.
Other award winners agreed that the action lies in handling relations with China.
"Beijing's obstruction has been the top stumbling block to the enhancement of ties between Taipei and Washington," said Harry Tseng (
Tseng said he and his coworkers at Taiwan's de facto embassy in Washington had to "fight in close quarters" with their counterparts from Beijing when stationed in the US.
Tseng, now one of the president's English-Chinese interpreters, joined the ministry in 1985 and left his work four years later to pursue a PhD at the University of Virginia. In 1993, Tseng was encouraged by his superior, David Lee (李大維), now Taiwan's top representative to Brussels, to return to the ministry.
After the ceremony at the ministry, the veteran diplomat Lee grasped Tseng by the shoulders as a gesture of encouragement.
At the ceremony, Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (
The 11 recipients were handpicked by an 11-member committee out of 24 short-listed civil servants from 18 government units which have dispatched personnel overseas, Chien said.
On behalf of the award winners, Lee, who was honored for his work in enhancing ties between Taiwan and the EU, expressed his gratitude for the recipients' colleagues, their spouses and their supervisors.
"Many colleagues have worked harder than us. We were just luckier," Tseng said.
Lin Sheng-chung (
"The credit shouldn't be taken by any single individual for Taiwan's WTO accession as countless civil servants were involved in the decades-long preparations and negotiations," Lin said.
Other award winners included Pascal Liu (
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS