Chinatrust Commercial Bank Chairman Jeffrey Koo (辜濂松) is still an ambassador-at-large, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
Ministry spokeswoman Katharine Chang (張小月) was responding to a newspaper report that Koo, who heads the Koo's Group, one of Taiwan's largest business conglomerates, has rejected an offer to continue serving as an ambassador-at-large for the Chen administration.
"The report is not true," Chang said.
"The fact that Koo is one of our country's ambassadors-at-large has remained unchanged as the foreign ministry has not received Koo's resignation letter."
A Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday that Koo, 70, had informed the foreign ministry of his desire to discontinue his service as an ambassador-at-large because of concerns about his health and a busy travel schedule.
Koo's desire to travel to China to help manage family businesses there might also be a reason behind his apparent decision to leave the post, the newspaper report said.
As an ambassador-at-large, the paper said, Koo has a hard time obtaining Beijing's approval to visit China, as Beijing has shunned contact with members of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administration.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
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