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 (
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
RSS