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.
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
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
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
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
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