■ DIPLOMACY
MOFA reshuffles staff
A personnel reshuffle is in store for the nation's diplomatic missions overseas, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said last night. Representative to Greece Tung Kuo-yu (董國猷) will become the deputy representative to the US, as his knowledge of international organizations could help the country's bid to gain membership in such bodies, the official said. Thomas Chen (陳經銓), the deputy representative at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Canada, will become the director of TECO in San Francisco. Huang Ju-hou (黃諸侯), chief executive officer of the ministry's Committee on Japanese Affairs, will take over as director of TECO in Los Angeles.
■ MEDIA
GIO opens media center
A news center for foreign reporters covering the March 22 presidential election is up and running, a Government Information Office spokesman said yesterday, adding that more than 100 reporters had registered so far to cover the poll. Chi Tung-yang (紀東陽), a secretary at the Information and Liaison Office, said the news center would provide foreign media with better access to information about the election. "Various programs, such as meetings with the foreign minister and the chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, will also be arranged by the center," he said. In 2004, around 680 foreign journalists covered the presidential election, including 130 reporters stationed in Taiwan. Pascal Liu (劉代光), head of the Information and Liaison Office, said he expected the number of foreign journalists covering this year's election to reach more than 700.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
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