The UK’s new top representative to Taiwan, Ruth Bradley-Jones, officially took office in Taipei on Monday, the de facto British embassy in Taiwan announced yesterday.
The senior British diplomat has served in the UK foreign service for more than 20 years and was most recently deputy head of mission in Myanmar from 2021 to 2022, the British Office Taipei said in a statement.
The office represents the UK’s interests in Taiwan in the absence of official ties.
Photo: CNA
Bradley-Jones’ previous overseas postings also include Ethiopia and Djibouti, as well as serving as representative to the EU.
Before her posting in Myanmar in 2021, she was deputy head of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) North East Asia and Pacific Department, leading work on the Korean Peninsula and in Japan, the British Office Taipei said.
Bradley-Jones’ other roles in the British government include policy work on Iran nuclear negotiations. She was awarded a Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2023 for her work promoting gender equality.
The MBE rewards contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organizations, and public service outside the civil service.
Bradley-Jones was also the chair of the FCDO’s women’s network from 2019 to 2021.
She took over the post in Taiwan from her predecessor, John Dennis, who had served since December 2020.
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
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