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.
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address