Former minister of foreign affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) has passed away, sources said yesterday. He was 81.
Sources from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said they learned from Ou’s family on Sunday that he had recently passed away. The sources did not disclose the date nor the cause of death out of respect for his family’s privacy.
KMT sources said that Ou had major surgery in August. His condition continued to deteriorate and he had been hospitalized before his family decided to end life support.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Ou was accompanied by his family when he passed away in the hospital.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would not confirm Ou’s death out of respect to his family.
Ou served as the nation’s top diplomat from May 2008 to September 2009 under former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the KMT.
Prior to becoming the minister of foreign affairs, Ou, who had served as a Spanish interpreter for the late presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-Kuo (蔣經國), had served in government in several diplomatic capacities during his 45-year diplomatic career, mostly with Spanish-speaking Central and South American nations.
Ou had served as ambassador in Nicaragua from 1984 to 1985; twice in Guatemala from 1990 to 1996, and again from 2003 to 2008; and in Spain from 2000 to 2003.
Ou resigned as the foreign minister on Sept. 10, 2009, along with outgoing premier Liu Chao-Shiuan (劉兆玄) and the rest of the Cabinet in Ma’s administration, mostly over the government’s slow response in handling the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot.
In retirement, Ou served as head of several non-governmental organizations promoting Taiwan’s foreign relations, and had frequently attended conferences organized by a KMT think tank.
‘ANGRY’: Forgetting the humiliations and sacrifices of ‘the people of the Republic of China’ experienced disqualified Lai from being president, Ma Ying-jeou said Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday criticized President William Lai (賴清德) over what he called “phrasing that downplayed Japan’s atrocities” against China during World War II. Ma made the remarks in a post on Facebook on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Ma said he was “angry and disappointed” that Lai described the anniversary as the end of World War II instead of a “victory in the war of resistance” — a reference to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The eight-year war was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other Axis
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday announced a ban on all current and former government officials from traveling to China to attend a military parade on Sept. 3, which Beijing is to hold to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War. "This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Republic of China’s victory in the War of Resistance [Against Japan]," MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a regular news briefing in Taipei. To prevent Beijing from using the Sept. 3 military parade and related events for "united
‘OFFSHORE OPERATIONS’: Also in Dallas, Texas, the Ministry of Economic Affairs inaugurated its third Taiwan Trade and Investment Center to foster closer cooperation The 2025 Taiwan Expo USA opened on Thursday in Dallas, Texas, featuring 150 Taiwanese companies showcasing their latest technologies in the fields of drones, smart manufacturing and healthcare. The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), the event’s organizer, said the exhibitors this year include Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (Foxconn), the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer; AUO; PC brand Asustek Computer; and drone maker Thunder Tiger. In his opening speech, TAITRA chairman James Huang (黃志芳) said he expected Texas to become a world-class center for innovation and manufacturing as US technology companies from Silicon Valley and Taiwanese manufacturers form an industrial cluster
A 20-year-old man yesterday evening was electrocuted and fell to his death after he climbed a seven-story-high electricity tower to photograph the sunset, causing a wildfire on Datong Mountain (大同山) in New Taipei City’s Shulin District (樹林), the Taoyuan Police Department said today. The man, surnamed Hsieh (謝), was accompanied on an evening walk by a 20-year-old woman surnamed Shang (尚) who remained on the ground and witnessed the incident, capturing a final photograph of her friend sitting atop the tower before his death, an initial investigation showed. Shang then sought higher ground to call for help, police said. The New Taipei
RSS