Taiwan's former envoy to France takes office as deputy foreign minister

Taipei, Aug. 19 (CNA) Taiwan's former representative to France François Wu (吳志中) officially assumed the post of deputy minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Sunday.

Wu, who began the representative to France job in 2018, took office as deputy foreign minister on Aug. 18, MOFA said on its website.

Wu also served in the deputy minister post from May 20, 2016 until July 2018 during former President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) administration.

After serving six years in Paris, Tsai's successor President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) named him deputy minister immediately after his inauguration on May 20.

Wu, however, decided to stay on his post in Paris until the conclusion of the Summer Olympics before returning to Taiwan, according to MOFA.

Wu, a fluent French speaker, studied in Paris from 1989 to 1998. He obtained a master's degree in diplomacy and a doctoral degree in political science from the Pantheon-Sorbonne University.

After returning to Taiwan, he worked as a professor at Taipei-based Soochow University. His areas of expertise include geopolitics, the history of diplomacy, EU foreign policy, the world post World War II, the French government and French politics.

Wu's successor is Hao Pei-chih (郝培芝), former head of the Civil Service Protection and Training Commission.

She is the first woman to serve as Taiwan's top envoy to France.

Hao, who received her master's degree and doctorate in political science from the Pantheon-Sorbonne University, served as a member of the advisory committee at the Mainland Affairs Council from 2007 to 2009.