The annual Teen Diplomatic Envoy program is to send high-school students on an 11-day friendship tour of Australia and New Zealand, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday.
Speaking at an event to announce this year’s envoys, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kelly Hsieh (謝武樵) congratulated the students for their hard work during the three-month selection process, which began in November last year.
The 12 envoys from three schools being sent to the two nations were chosen from among 70 high schools across Taiwan that submitted applications for teams of four to participate.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The three four-person teams were selected from Tainan’s Chang Jung Senior High School, Taipei Fuhsing Private School and Taipei Wego Private Senior High School.
The program, in its 20th year, is aimed at helping the envoys broaden their international outlook and improve their English proficiency, Hsieh said.
This year, the 12 envoys are to visit Sydney, Australia, and Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand for 11 days from Sunday to Feb. 7, he said.
Deputy Australian Representative to Taiwan Daniel Stuart said he was happy to see that the Taiwanese teen diplomats would be visiting his hometown of Sydney, which he called the most beautiful city in the world.
Youth exchanges have always been the foundation for Australia-Taiwan relations, Stuart said, adding that he believes the trip will allow the participants to not only practice English, but also increase their international awareness.
Since the program’s launch in 2002, it has been held annually except for 2021, 2022 and last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jointly organized by the ministry and the Ministry of Education, 2,500 high schools have applied since its inception, Hsieh said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS