Amid the music of the English song Time to Say Good-bye, outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂) and Vice Foreign Minister Wu Tzu-dan (吳子丹) walked out of a crowded hall at a farewell party yesterday.
In the hall where Tien and Wu used to entertain many of their guests during their time at the foreign ministry -- 20 months and 40 years respectively -- the two outgoing officials recalled their bittersweet experiences at the ministry.
Tien said he had already given consent to President Chen Shui-bian's (
"My wife and I will study over the next two to three months to find out the best restaurants and great sight-seeing spots in London. [You are] welcome to [come to] London to be our guests after May," Tien told a crowded roomful of foreign ministry officials.
The incoming foreign minister, Eugene Chien (
Tien's new appointment, once realized, would be the first time Taiwan has sent a former foreign minister to work as Taipei's top representative to London.
Tien also named several of the destinations of his clandestine trips to countries that do not hold diplomatic ties with Taiwan, including Slovenia, Albania and Burma.
Sources in the ministry confirmed later that Tien visited Slovenia and Albania last spring.
Tien also thanked his co-workers at the ministry for their assistance in helping him as a scholar-turned minister sail through various tough tasks.
Meanwhile, Wu Tzu-dan is to step down from his post as the vice foreign minister to be replaced by Michael Kao (
Wu, dubbed by another vice foreign minister, Lang Chih-min (藍智民), as "Mr. International Organizations," delivered what sounded like a farewell address for his career as a diplomat during the party.
Recalling his 40-years of service as a diplomat, Wu said, "Irrespective of the social transformation that has taken place [in Taiwan], my loyalty to my country and my passion for diplomatic work remain unchanged.
"And I found great consolation while recalling the overall process as I have done my part for this country, which has experienced so many adversities," Wu said.
Wu was one of the prime movers behind Taiwan's accession to APEC in 1991 and Taiwan's UN bid since the early 1990s.
The foreign ministry sent the two outgoing officials a crystal curving statue of a building that resembled the outward appearance of the foreign ministry complex as souvenirs.
The souvenirs were to remind Tien and Wu of "the light that never goes out at No. 2 Kaitakelan Blvd" (a description borrowed from a foreign ministry official to describe how ministry staffers often stay up late for work), where the ministry was located, sources said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a
RSS