As part of the government's downsizing initiative, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday formally announced its decision to scale back operations at five sites overseas -- those in Luxembourg, Mauritius, Uruguay, Rio de Janeiro and Egypt.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (
Instead, Chien said, the decision reflects the redistribution of resources at the ministry.
Chien said that the number of Taiwan's overseas representative offices -- more than 120 -- surpasses those of neighboring countries such as South Korea and Singapore.
He also said the ministry would consider further downsizing, integrating or adding to its overseas representative offices after thorough studies.
Daily operations at these five sites will be handled by Taiwan's nearby representative offices -- those in Brussels, South Africa, Argentina, Sao Paulo and Jordan, a foreign ministry press release said.
But fishing affairs in Mauritius will still be handled by Taiwanese officials posted there by the Council of Agriculture, the press release added.
Out of the five sites slated to be scaled back, four are official representative offices.
Offices in Cairo are unofficial as Taipei failed to create a representative office in the Egyptian capital on a reciprocal basis as scheduled by the end of 2000.
The hang-up is due to obstructionism from China, sources said.
In 2000, it was announced that Taipei and Cairo would establish economic and cultural offices by the end of the year.
But the plans were never realized due to interference from Beijing, officials said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
RSS