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.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
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