George Washington University on Tuesday bestowed the President's Medal on Taiwan's outgoing representative to the US, Chen Chien-jen (程建仁), in recognition of his promotion of friendship between the countries and his contributions to promoting bilateral academic exchanges.
George Washington University president Stephen Trachtenberg, who presided over the ceremony, lauded Chen's contributions by saying that he had played the role of a bridge between Taiwan and the US over a long diplomatic career.
Trachtenberg also expressed his appreciation for Chen's firm support for scholarly exchanges between the two countries, noting that his university had established a relationship with Yuan Ze University in Taoyuan County.
The President's Medal is the highest honor bestowed by the university. Past winners include former Czech Republic president Vaclav Havel, former Israeli president Ezer Weizman, US Senator Joseph Lieberman, US Senate majority leader Bill Frist and Boston University president John Silber.
Chen said that he had spent 20 of the 37 years of his diplomatic career in Washington and that he had learned not only the importance of protecting the national interest but also the importance of respecting the interests of the countries with which one was engaged.
He said that he accepted the honor with pride and humility. In addition to extending appreciation to George Washington University, he also thanked his wife, who was on hand to witness the ceremony.
The university also arranged for a Taiwanese student, Tsao Yi-ying (曹逸盈), to talk about Chen. Tsao, who is studying for a master's degree in museum management, said that Chen was very kind to students, which she said had changed her stereotype of high-ranking officials.
Nearly 100 people, including academic and diplomatic figures, including officials from Taiwan's representative office in the US, and Taiwanese students studying at George Washington University, attended the ceremony.
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly was also present.
Chen, 65, started his diplomatic career as a secretary at the former Taiwan embassy in the US. He became Taiwan Representative to the US in 2000.
He has also served as a legislator, director-general of the Government Information Office and minister of foreign affairs.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS