Taiwan's consular affairs chief named as new envoy to Greece

Taipei, Dec. 25 (CNA) Taiwan's top diplomat in charge of consular affairs has been named as the country's new representative to Greece to fill a post that has been vacant for more than six months.

Calvin Ho (何振寰), director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MOFA) Bureau of Consular Affairs, will fill the void after the departure of former representative to Greece Sherman S. Kuo (郭時南) in June, according to a personnel reshuffle approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday.

Kuo's resignation was approved by the Presidential Office on June 19. MOFA said at the time that Kuo resigned over personal reasons.

Ho served as the ambassador to Caribbean ally Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2018-2021) and as an ambassador on home assignment in MOFA's Department of International Cooperation and Economic Affairs before heading the Bureau of Consular Affairs starting in January 2023.

He is responsible for pushing for an online passport renewal application service that will soon complete a four-month trial run before being fully implemented starting in 2025.

Ho has been previously posted in the United States, Canada, Taiwan's WTO office in Geneva and the United Kingdom. He was also a former deputy MOFA spokesman.

Meanwhile, the Executive Yuan also announced on Wednesday that Ivan Lee (李岳融), MOFA's chief liaison officer to the Legislative Yuan, will become Taiwan's top representative to Mexico.

Lee has served as director-general for MOFA's Office of Parliamentarian Affairs since September 2022. He has also served as ambassador to Nicaragua and in other overseas posts, including in Peru and Paraguay.

The announcement of the Cabinet's personnel changes, however, did not indicate when Ho and Lee are expected to take up their respective positions overseas.