President Ma Ying-jeou has named National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Liu Chih-kung as new ROC representative to Canada, the Presidential Office announced June 5. Effective May 20, Liu replaces David Ta-wei Lee, who served in the post for more than five years. Lee is expected to return to Taiwan at the beginning of July to assume his new position as head of the Coordination Council of North American Affairs, according to the office.
Chen Jang-lin, general director of the Industrial Technology Research Institute’s Display Technology Center, received a Special Recognition Award from the Society for Information Display during its 49th Display Week International Symposium & Exhibition being held in Boston, Massachusetts, from June 3 to 8. He received the award for his leading contributions to the development of hybrid plastic substrates for flexible displays and electronics, and for the development of rewritable and reusable electronic paper. Chen has also won the U.S.-based R&D 100 Award the past two years.
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves stood at US$389.28 billion at the end of May, marking a decline of US$5.8 billion from the end of the previous month, the ROC central bank announced June 5.
It is becoming “increasingly likely” that deployed mainland Chinese missiles would be able to shut down Taiwan’s airfields in the event of a war breaking out in the Taiwan Strait, according to a report titled “Asia in the Balance: Transforming U.S. Military Strategy in Asia” released June 5. The report recommends that Taiwan’s military should beef up its defense capabilities, including anti-ship cruise missiles, diesel submarines and mine-laying capabilities, in order to deter Beijing from launching an amphibious attack on the island.
Jose Maria Liu, ROC ambassador to Paraguay, donated several pieces of equipment—including solar panels, transformers and flush toilets—to a Paraguayan school for indigenous students in Bella Vista, Amambay province, June 4. Liu visited the school after receiving an invitation from the Organizacion de Estados Iberoamericanos and the Paraguayan Ministry of Education. (SB)