Representative to the US King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) was sworn in at the Presidential Office yesterday and is expected to depart for the US on Saturday.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who presided over the oath-taking, did not exchange words with King, a long-term aide and a key figure in his re-election campaign last year.
The president appointed King, 56, to the position in late September, arousing concerns about King’s lack of foreign affairs experience. King succeeds Jason Yuan (袁健生), who returned to Taipei in August to lead the National Security Council.
Photo: CNA
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Lin Chu-chia (林祖嘉) and Council of Labor Affairs Deputy Minister Hau Feng-ming (郝鳳鳴) also took the oath of office at yesterday’s ceremony and shook hands with Ma.
King is expected to meet with leaders of overseas Taiwanese communities in Washington on Sunday.
King will return to Taipei on Dec. 26 to give a briefing at the legislature, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
King made a 13-day trip to the US last year as Ma’s top campaign adviser to boost the president’s overseas support and facilitate communication with the US administration.
King majored in journalism at National Chengchi University and earned a doctorate from the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin. He served as Taipei’s deputy mayor from 2004 to 2006, when Ma was mayor.
A year after Ma was first elected president in 2008, King was appointed KMT secretary-general by Ma, who also serves as party chairman.
Additional reporting by CNA
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS