FOR WHAT?A report said the only service provided by the Frankfurt-am-Main mission in Germany is greeting Taiwanese officials who visit the financial center

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 17, 2016
By: Lee Yu-fu, Lu Yi-hsuan and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters and staff writer, with CNA

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that the number and scale of its overseas diplomatic missions would be reduced, citing the need to reallocate available resources to meet the nation’s strategic and diplomatic needs.

The ministry said it would disband fewer than 10 of its embassies and overseas missions to allocate resources for President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) “new southbound policy,” Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) said at a legislative session on Tuesday.

When asked about it on Wednesday, Lee said the decision was “informed by concerns over costs and strategic effect,” in addition to the needs of the “new southbound policy,” adding that the number of overseas missions the ministry has is “excessive.”

The decision to reduce in the number of diplomatic missions was made after careful deliberation, he said, adding that the ministry would consider its options before committing to closing missions and embassies.     [FULL  STORY]