The China Post
Date: September 15, 2016
By: Joseph Yeh
TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) will make a final decision next week on which
Foreign Minister David Lee (李大維) speaks during a new overseas representatives swearing-in ceremony held at MOFA’s headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday. (Joseph Yeh, The China Post)
overseas office is to be scrapped, Foreign Minister David Lee (李大維) said Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters at a ceremony in Taipei commemorating the swearing in of new overseas representatives , Lee said many lawmakers had called on the ministry to reevaluate the cost-effectiveness of running a total of 117 overseas offices around the world.
Many of them believed there were too many offices, urging the ministry to close some to make to better use of the limited foreign affairs budget, Lee said.
The ministry has recently been conducting an evaluation of its overseas offices. Lee said that the ministry would definitely “make adjustments” to the number of existing overseas offices.
But he also noted that the decision will have to be made cautiously, saying cuts should not only be based on cost-effectiveness but also strategic diplomatic objectives. [FULL STORY]