The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has finally filled the vacancy for Taiwan's representative in Israel, announcing that senior diplomat Ting Gan-cheng (
The ministry had not appointed a replacement mission chief following the retirement of former representative to Israel, Teng Shen-sheng (
Michael Huang (
However, it has been alleged that this subsequently fell through as a result of Huang's involvement in the case of former US State Department official Donald Keyser's betrayal of state secrets.
The ministry denied this speculation and said that the delayed announcement of the new representative to Israel was because of Israel's invasion of Lebanon.
Ting has been serving as deputy secretary-general of the ministry's Coordination Council for North American Affairs and has served in the Department of Treaty and Legal Affairs.
Ting earned a master's degree in law at Soochow University specializing in international law and subsequently worked in the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Tel Aviv for six years.
Meanwhile, John Chen (陳忠), director-general of the Department of International Organizations, will be sent to New Zealand to serve as Taiwan's representative there.
This follows speculation that former deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council Parris Chang (張旭成) was originally the first-choice candidate for the position but that Chang was nixed by New Zealand.
In June, former representative to New Zealand Victor Chin (秦日新) was demoted to the post of consultant at the country's trade mission in Fiji due to his alleged involvement in embezzling official funds.
Also, Lo Koon-tsan (羅坤燦), executive director of ministry's Committee on Japanese Affairs, was appointed as the second deputy representative to Japan to join Chen Hung-chi (陳鴻基), Taiwan's deputy representative.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
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