The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has decided to create a new “ambassador-at-large” position, to allow diplomats who are returning to Taiwan after being posted overseas for years to continue working on important diplomatic projects, a diplomatic source said yesterday.
According to a set of guidelines on a post released on Nov. 15, senior diplomats who are consul-generals and counselors on home assignments are eligible to serve as ambassadors-at-large and handle special diplomatic projects.
The ambassador-at-large has been appointed by the president since 1998. The post has been filled by non-civil servants who specialize in certain fields to promote Taiwan’s diplomacy around the globe.
Photo: Taipei Times
Unlike a diplomat in residence, who is usually limited to a country or embassy, the ambassador-at-large is typically entrusted with operating in several neighboring countries or a region.
An ambassador-at-large might even be specifically assigned to advise and assist the government on issues. Taiwan currently has ambassadors-at-large for religion and cyber affairs.
The new ambassador-at-large position is intended for diplomats rather than non-civil servants, said a diplomatic source familiar with the matter, who did not want to be named.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is hoping that the diplomats in the new posts would be responsible for specific projects, including opening or reopening overseas offices, Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, trade deal talks and non-governmental organization exchanges, among others, the source said.
The main reason the new posts were established is that most of diplomats have first-hand experience overseas, with rich connections and language skills, but do not have a place to exercise their talents after returning to ministry headquarters in Taipei, because many posts have already been filled, the source quoted Lin as saying.
The new project is expected to give them plenty of opportunities to make use of their diplomatic experience and connections, the source cited as Lin saying.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
RSS