The outgoing minister of foreign affairs, Mark Chen (
Chen, who is slated to become secretary-general of the Presidential Office today, said yesterday that "the youngest minister is coming tomorrow. I hope the ministry's staff can give their utmost support to him. As much as you supported an old minister [like me], you should extend your support to the young minister as well."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday held a series of farewell parties to give send-offs to Chen and outgoing chairwoman of the ministry's Research and Planning Committee May-sing Yang (楊黃美幸), who has been named the new deputy head of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee.
Chen yesterday commended Huang as having an excellent grip on foreign affairs and possessing a delicate sense of judgment on the situation.
Chen's remarks appeared to be intended to defuse doubts that Huang's relative youth would make it difficult for him to command the hierarchical foreign ministry, where many senior officials are Huang's former bosses.
Commenting on his new posting as chief of staff of the Presidential Office, Chen said his nearly two years of experience in the foreign ministry would be a valuable asset to the new job. He also noted that another primary task would be to help promote the constitutional re-engineering project President Chen Shui-bian (
"I believe the reason President Chen appointed me as his chief of staff is my background and experience in foreign affairs, as well as my contacts and connections in the Democratic Progressive Party, which form a good basis for me to liaise between the Presidential Office, the Cabinet and the party," Chen said.
The ministry yesterday also awarded a medal of diplomacy to the outgoing director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Douglas Paal, who is scheduled to leave Taiwan today.
Expressing his gratitude to colleagues and staff at the foreign ministry, Paal yesterday said a good example of collaboration with his Taiwanese colleagues was the acquisition of the site in Neihu for the AIT's new office building.
"While we still await authorization for the building itself from Washington, I am confident it will come in time and stand as a proud symbol of America's long-term commitment to Taiwan," Paal said.
Paal said the US is deploying personnel to fit with Taiwan's modern social, political and economic developments.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to