The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has launched this year’s iteration of its annual exchange program that sends young adults to promote Taiwan in 41 countries.
The ministry will select 40 teams composed of college and post-graduate students in various fields, such as environmental protection, food culture and sports, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Vanessa Shih (史亞平) said yesterday at the youth ambassador program’s launch.
A number of the teams will promote woodball, a Taiwanese game derived from golf and croquet, Shih said.
Photo: CNA
“We hope to promote the sport in the international community,” she said.
Now in its fifth year, the program provides an opportunity for Taiwanese young adults, aged between 18 and 35, to spend up to 14 days in countries around the world to expand their horizons and increase the world’s understanding of Taiwan, the ministry said.
Unlike in previous years when the program focused on art exchanges, the ministry said it would expand the scope of the program this year to include computer science, public health, kung fu and Chinese-language teaching.
Yesterday’s launch event was also attended by Taiwanese ultramarathon runner Tommy Chen (陳彥博), who has participated in several international races.
Citing his experience in introducing Taiwanese food and traditions, such as giving red envelopes during the Lunar New Year, to runners from other countries, Chen encouraged Taiwan’s young adults to take advantage of the program and promote different elements of Taiwanese culture.
Six students from National Taipei University of Technology who visited Saint Kitts and Nevis as part of the program last year, also shared their experiences promoting Taiwan’s Aboriginal and Hakka culture there.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe