Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), the longest-serving foreign minister since Taiwan became a democracy, says he will step down in May, regardless of the outcome of the election. Wu, who has served in the position since February 2018, first made the comments in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. The Foreign Ministry then issued a press release on Thursday clarifying Wu’s comments.
The Wall Street Journal article said that Wu would step down “after Taiwan’s January presidential election,” a sentence translated and reprinted by many Taiwanese news outlets. The Foreign Ministry clarified that Wu intends the step down on May 20, 2024, in line with Taiwan’s constitutional norms. May 20 is also the date of Taiwan’s presidential inauguration.
Wu says that serving Taiwan may be the most difficult foreign minister job in the world. During his tenure, the number of countries with official diplomatic relations with Taiwan decreased from 20 to 13. At the same time, Wu worked to increase Taiwan’s international profile in the face of Chinese aggression and to use the war in Ukraine to raise awareness about Taiwan’s situation with China. Wu says that while maintaining relationships with Taiwan’s 13 remaining diplomatic allies is important, improving relations with other democracies is equally urgent.