Taiwan is consulting Washington on the appointment of its next representative to the US, Taipei's deputy representative to the US Tung Kuo-yu (董國猷) said on Friday.
Tung said he expected the US government’s response would come soon, adding that the name of the candidate would not be made public until all the procedures are completed.
Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), the incumbent representative to the US and a non-career diplomat who was appointed to the post by the former Democratic Progressive Party administration, tendered his resignation on May 20 upon the inauguration of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration.
The vacancy would reportedly be filled by Jason Yuan (袁健生), who has served as the KMT’s and the People First Party’s (PFP) representative to the US since 2004. Yuan formerly served as director-general of Taiwan’s Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Los Angeles.
Chang Ta-tung (張大同), the KMT and PFP’s deputy representative to the US, would allegedly be appointed deputy representative. Chang was formerly chief of the Congressional Liaison Division at the TECRO office in the US.
In related news, TECRO in Washington held a Starlight Film Screening on the main lawn of the Twin Oaks estate on Friday night to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the former residence of Republic of China ambassadors.
More than 200 people attended the screening of Fishing Luck, a story of a young woman from Taipei and an indigenous Tao youth from Orchid Island (蘭嶼). The film was directed by Golden Horse-award-winning Taiwanese director Tseng Wen-chen (曾文珍).
The second night of the outdoor film screening, scheduled for yesterday, was to feature the film Chocolate Rap by noted Taiwanese director Chi Y. Lee.
Among those in attendance at the screening on Friday were Wu, Taiwanese students studying in the area and other young overseas Taiwanese.
Bi Tzu-an (畢祖安), secretary of TECRO’s Cultural Division, said that many young Taiwanese jumped at the opportunity upon hearing about the screening, with one group driving more than four hours from West Virginia to attend.
Several Americans in attendance praised the event as a creative approach to cultural exchange and said they hoped similar events would be held in future.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard