Taipei: Taiwan's government has approved the appointment of Ivan Lee, the country's representative to Mexico, as its new ambassador to Paraguay. Lee, who commenced his role in Mexico earlier this year, is set to replace the current ambassador, Jose Han. Han will return to Taipei to assume the position of chief of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MOFA) Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs.
According to Focus Taiwan, before his tenure in Mexico, Lee served as MOFA's chief liaison officer to the Legislative Yuan. He also had a brief stint as the ambassador to Nicaragua before the country severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in late 2021. Han, on the other hand, has been leading Taiwan's embassy in Paraguay-Taiwan's sole formal ally in South America-since May 2020.
Han's new role will see him succeeding Cheng Li-cheng, the current head of MOFA's Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs. Cheng has been in that position since February 2023 and will soon transition to a new post in Spain. Cheng's upcoming assignment as Taiwan's top representative to Madrid follows a vacancy left by Vivia Chang in July 2024, who subsequently became Taiwan's ambassador to Guatemala.
Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China, maintains formal diplomatic relations with 12 nations worldwide. Among these, Paraguay in South America and Guatemala in Central America are the only Spanish-speaking allies.