Women are thriving in the nation’s diplomatic corps, with six of Taiwan’s diplomatic missions in Europe alone headed by female diplomats, the most at any one time in the country’s history.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) officials said that although some of the country’s diplomatic missions on other continents are also led by female diplomats, none of those areas have as high a concentration of female diplomatic mission chiefs as Europe.
The group comprises Representative to Denmark Lily Hsu (徐儷文), Representative to the Czech Republic Hsueh Mei-yu (薛美瑜), Representative to Finland Lin Ching-lien (林錦蓮), Representative to Greece Agnes Chen (陳華玉), Representative to Hungary Marietta Kaoliau (高青雲) and Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛), permanent representative to the WTO in Geneva.
Taiwan maintains an embassy at the Vatican, a permanent mission at the WTO headquarters in Geneva and representative offices in 21 European countries.
Ministry officials said overseas representative offices take care of visas and other affairs in countries where Taiwan has not set up representative offices.
Hsu is versed in the structures and operations of major international organizations and once headed the ministry’s Department of International Organizations. She has substantial overseas work experience, having worked at Taiwan’s representative offices in the UK and the US.
Hsueh impressed many lawmakers during her time as deputy director-general of the ministry’s Department of North American Affairs with her calm, reasoned and articulate style. She was credited with having helped former Representative to the US Jason Yuan (袁健生) restore bilateral trust between Taiwan and the US during her years as political division chief at the representative office in Washington.
Her current stint in Eastern Europe is widely seen as part of the government’s efforts to expand her vision and work experience.
Lin had been director-general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Sydney before assuming her current post as the country’s representative in Finland.
Ministry sources said Lin’s promotion from the post of director of the Bureau of Consular Affairs to leading the Sydney office was nearly unprecedented in the ministry’s history. She was credited with promoting the addition of “Taiwan” to the cover of Republic of China passports. Chen is known for her tireless efforts to lobby countries around the world to grant visa-waiver privileges to Republic of China passport holders.
Kao has climbed the diplomatic ladder from the lowest rung. Aside from relations with Hungary, she is also in charge of engagements with other Balkan countries where the ministry has not set up offices, including Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo, as well as services for Taiwanese expatriates in the region.
Lai, a former Mainland Affairs Council minister, took office as Taiwan’s new permanent representative at WTO headquarters in Geneva in the middle of the month. Diplomatic sources said Lai’s knowledge of economic affairs was the main reason for her appointment.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
ENHANCING EFFICIENCY: The apron can accommodate 16 airplanes overnight at Taoyuan airport while work on the third runway continues, the transport minister said A new temporary overnight parking apron at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to start operating on Friday next week to boost operational efficiency while the third runway is being constructed, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The apron — one of the crucial projects in the construction of the third runway — can accommodate 16 aircraft overnight at the nation’s largest international airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told reporters while inspecting the new facility yesterday morning. Aside from providing the airport operator with greater flexibility in aircraft parking during the third runway construction,
American climber Alex Honnold is to attempt a free climb of Taipei 101 today at 9am, with traffic closures around the skyscraper. To accommodate the climb attempt and filming, the Taipei Department of Transportation said traffic controls would be enforced around the Taipei 101 area. If weather conditions delay the climb, the restrictions would be pushed back to tomorrow. Traffic controls would be in place today from 7am to 11am around the Taipei 101 area, the department said. Songzhi Road would be fully closed in both directions between Songlian Road and Xinyi Road Sec 5, it said, adding that bidirectional traffic controls would
RSS