Mr. Tseng Hou-Ren
Director-General,
Department of North American Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan)
WorldMUN 2010 Host Team Division of Public Relations is honored to share with its delegates and friends worldwide this exclusive interview with Mr. Tseng Hou-Re:
1. Why did you pursue a diplomatic career?
Tseng: To be honest, I didn't have any big epiphany. I graduated from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures from National Taiwan University and of course I wanted to find a job after I graduated. At the time, I knew language would be one of my tools so I wanted a job that was relevant to languages. Before I looked for a job, that is to say, when I was still a student, I took the foreign service exam. Out of all the civil servant jobs, I found that the one having most to do with languages, is Foreign Service. So when I took the exam, I passed and I decided to go down this path. [laugh] So there's no special reason. Of course, the 1979 Kaoshiung Incident happened while I was studying at NTU during my junior year. Now that I look back, I was still confused about life, so maybe it was these events that influenced my later decision. But if I put it this way, it sounds like I'm trying to boast about it. But it was just that I had a language advantage and I found a job that had to do with language.
2. How do you want students to view Model United Nations?
