The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is mulling a minor reshuffle of its diplomatic personnel abroad, with representative to Mexico Tsai Meng-hung (蔡孟宏) expected to be appointed as the nation's new ambassador to the Dominican Republic, a ministry official said yesterday.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Tsai would succeed Chen Hsien-hsiang (陳顯祥), who is to be transferred back to the ministry in Taipei after his successor assumes office, while Chen Hsin-tung (陳新東), deputy director-general of the ministry's Department of Central and South American Affairs, would fill the vacancy left by Tsai's departure.
Addressing the issue of the nation's representative-designate to Ireland, Parris Chang (張旭成), the official said that if the Irish government continued to reject Chang's visa application, the ministry would not rule out assigning someone else in his place.
Chang -- formerly a Democratic Progressive Party representative to the US and a deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council -- was sworn in during a ceremony in Taipei on Sept. 5, but has been unable to assume his new post.
The official said that the nation's representative to Vietnam, Huang Nan-huei (黃南輝), and the representative to Norway, Kuo Ming-shan (郭明山), were also likely to be transferred in the short term.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
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