Ambassador to Eswatini Thomas Chen (陳經銓) has been hospitalized in South Africa after he was found seriously ill in his office on June 22, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Chen was first treated in Eswatini after he fell ill, ministry spokesperson Andrew Lee (李憲章) said, but he has since been transferred to a hospital in South Africa after the ministry received permission from Chen’s family.
Lee did not disclose the nature of Chen’s illness, saying only that he fell ill because he had been very busy over the past few months arranging President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) state visit to Eswatini in April and a visit by King Mswati III to Taiwan earlier this month.
Photo: CNA
The head of the nation’s medical mission in Eswatini and a nurse are accompanying Chen at the South African hospital, Lee said.
Swazi King Mswati III, Tsai and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) have all expressed concern over Chen’s hospitalization and have wished him a swift recovery, Lee added.
Chen has served as ambassador to the southern African nation, previously known as Swaziland, since September 2013.
He has previously served as deputy representative to Canada and head of the ministry’s Bureau of Consular Affairs.
The nation’s embassy in Eswatini is currently being headed by Chen’s deputy, Lee said.
Eswatini is the nation’s only remaining diplomatic ally in Africa after Burkina Faso switched recognition to China on May 24.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS