TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced Monday (Oct. 19) that the new representative office in France’s Aix-en-Provence is scheduled to open in early December.

Monday morning officials attended a Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting on the current state of Taiwan-US bilateral trade negotiations.

When asked at the meeting by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) when the new office in France will open, Johnson Chiang (姜森), head of MOFA's Department of European Affairs, said that the foreign ministry originally planned to open the office in mid-to-late November, but considering renovations, office arrangements and other work — as well as waiting for the arrival of the new representative — the date was changed to early December, CNA reported.

According to MOFA, the head of the Aix-en-Provence office will be the former ambassador to Haiti Hsin Chi-chih (辛繼志). Chiang said that Hsin has just returned to Taiwan from Haiti and is currently quarantining at home. He will travel to France to take up his post after finalizing some personal affairs.

MOFA first announced the establishment of the Taipei Office in Aix-en-Provence in late August. This will be Taiwan's third new overseas office of 2020 following the establishment of the Guam and Somaliland offices.