Former National Science Council minister Cyrus Chu (朱敬一) has been named as the new head of Taiwan’s mission to the WTO, while former minister of foreign affairs David Lin (林永樂) has been appointed as Taiwan’s new representative to the UK, the Presidential Office said yesterday.
In an announcement of new diplomatic appointments, the Presidential Office said Chu is to replace Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛), who has resigned as Taiwan’s representative to the WTO.
Meanwhile, Lin, a career diplomat who stepped down as foreign minister on May 20 when President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office, has been appointed as Taiwan’s representative to the UK to succeed Liu Chih-kung (劉志攻), who resigned in May.
As part of the reshuffle under the new Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government, Antonio Chiang (江春男), a prominent journalist and political commentator, has been appointed to serve as Taiwan’s representative to Singapore.
His previous posts included deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council and publisher of the weekly Journalist magazine and the Taipei Times.
The Presidential Office also announced that Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉), former head of the Government Information Office, will serve as Taiwan’s new representative to Germany.
It will be his second diplomatic posting in Germany, after he served there in that same position from 2005 to 2007 under the previous DPP administration.
In another European posting, Kuo Shih-nan (郭時南), Taiwan’s former representative to Fiji and Singapore, has been appointed as the nation’s top envoy to Greece, the Presidential Office said in its statement.
It said Taiwan’s representative to the Czech Republic, Lu Hsiao-jung (陸小榮), has resigned, but a replacement has not yet been selected.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data