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.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
RSS