Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Secretary-General Michel Lu (
Lu is to fill the post left vacant in August by former representative to France Yang Tzu-pao (
Lu's latest appointment came less than six months after he was promoted in June from his former post as the ministry's spokesman to be the secretary-general.
Lu speaks fluent French and formerly served as ambassador to Haiti from 2000 to 2002.
Other personnel affected by the reshuffle include Benjamin Liang (梁英斌), the director of the Department of Treaty and Legal Affairs, who will take over Lu's post as secretary-general.
John Chen (
Taiwan's representative to Indonesia Lin Yung-lo (
Ministry officials who have served as directors of the Department of International Organizations are usually promoted as the nation's representatives abroad.
Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (
However, as a consequnce of the Arab nation's approval of President Chen Shui-bian's (
As a result, Lee will instead be transferred to Palau, Huang said.
Huang also denied speculation suggesting that President Chen planned to send Presidential Office Secretary-General Mark Chen (陳唐山), the former foreign minister, to the US to replace Taiwan's Representative to Washington David Lee (李大維).
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716