Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday presented the Friendship Medal of Diplomacy to Canadian Trade Office in Taipei Executive Director Jim Nickel.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei, Lin presented the medal to Nickel in recognition of his dedication to enhancing Taiwan-Canada relations.
Nickel, whose three-year term in the role ends this year, is expected to become Canadian ambassador to Vietnam.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
Nickel said that based on shared values, common interests and willingness to cooperate, Taiwan and Canada have achieved successes in economic, security and people-to-people exchanges.
He thanked the ministry, government agencies, the private sector, civic society and academic partners for their friendship and cooperation during his tenure, adding that he would be leaving Taiwan with a with a sense of satisfaction.
Nickel said that Marie-Louise Hanna, a senior official at the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, would be the next executive director.
She worked at the office between 2002 and 2005 and is familiar with Taiwan, he said.
Lin said Nickel is a sincere and cherished friend of Taiwan.
During his tenure, Taiwan and Canada signed a memorandum of understanding for bilateral cooperation in public health in 2023, and the Mutual Recognition Arrangement of Authorized Economic Operator Program, as well as the Science, Technology and Innovation Arrangement last year, he said.
Canada also joined the Global Cooperation and Training Framework as a full partner last year, and former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was invited to deliver a speech at the Halifax International Security Forum in Canada last year, he said.
Since 2022, when Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, it has continuously reiterated that view and displayed it through tangible actions, including having Canadian warships transit the Taiwan Strait, Lin said.
Canada assumed the presidency of the G7 this year and has continued to support Taiwan’s international participation, including voicing its support for Taiwan’s participation in the annual World Health Assembly for the fifth consecutive time this year, the minister said.
Nickel was deputy head of mission at the Canadian embassy in Beijing from 2018 to 2022, deputy high commissioner in New Delhi from 2009 to 2014 and a university teacher in China in the late 1980s.
Separately, the ministry yesterday welcomed a five-person delegation of Irish lawmakers led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the lower house of the Oireachtas and chair of the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association.
The delegation is to meet with President William Lai (賴清德), Lin, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆), Deputy Legislative Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), National Development Council Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) and Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Cynthia Kiang (江文若), it said.
The delegation also includes lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence; Barry Ward, chair of the Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs; and Ken O’Flynn, as well as Irish Senator Teresa Costello, the ministry said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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