New UK envoy to Taiwan takes office

Taipei, Feb. 12 (CNA) The United Kingdom's new top representative to Taiwan, Ruth Bradley-Jones, officially assumed office in Taipei on Monday, the country's de facto embassy in Taiwan announced Wednesday.

The senior British diplomat has served in the U.K. foreign service for over 20 years and was most recently posted as deputy head of mission in Myanmar from 2021 to 2022, the British Office Taipei (BOT) said in a press statement.

The BOT represents U.K. interests in Taiwan in the absence of official ties.

Bradley-Jones' previous overseas postings included Ethiopia and Djibouti, as well as the representative to the European Union.

The BOT said that before her posting in Myanmar in 2021, she was the deputy head of the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) North East Asia and Pacific Department, leading work on the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

Bradley-Jones' other roles in the U.K. government have included policy work on the Iran nuclear negotiation. She received a Most Excellent Order (MBE) of the British Empire in 2023 for her work promoting gender equality.

The MBE is a British order that rewards contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organizations, and public service outside the civil service.

Bradley-Jones was also the chair of the FCDO's women's network from 2019 to 2021.

She took over the post from her predecessor, John Dennis, who had served in the Taiwan post since December 2020.