Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson James Chang (章計平) has been tapped to replace Tom Chou (周台竹) as ambassador to Saint Lucia amid concern over the bilateral relationship since a transition of power in the Caribbean nation.
Saint Lucia has repeatedly demanded that Taipei recall Chou after the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) regained power in November last year, accusing Chou of interfering in the electoral process in favor of the United Workers Party (UWP), an allegation that the ministry has denied.
Chou has been stationed in Saint Lucia since 2007, putting a transfer in line with rules governing rotation of positions, partially based on length of service.
A career diplomat of nearly 30 years, Chang has previously served in the UK, the US and the Philippines and has served as ministry spokesperson since 2010.
In other personnel news, the ministry appointed Department of International Organizations Director-General Lily Hsu (徐儷文) to be the nation’s representative to Denmark and Department of West Asian Affairs Director-General Lin Jinn-jong (林進忠) will become the representative to Saudi Arabia.
Hsu will be succeeded by Kelly Hsieh (謝武樵), who currently serves in the representative office in Geneva, Switzerland.
Hsueh Mei-yu (薛美瑜), a section chief at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US, has been selected to serve as representative to the Czech Republic.
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. The single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 400,000 and 800,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, saber-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. A single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 800,000 to 400,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, sabre-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
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