TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Long-serving Taiwan envoy to Germany Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) will move to Brussels to serve as representative to Belgium and the EU, reports said Wednesday.

The current envoy in Brussels, former Deputy Foreign Minister Roy Chun Lee (李淳), will leave office in August, per CNA. Shieh served in Berlin from 2005 to 2007 and again since 2016.

He began learning German while at Taipei’s Soochow University and later received a doctorate from Germany’s Ruhr University Bochum. His fluent command of the German language and culture, along with his mild negotiating style, helped raise Taiwan’s profile in the European country, the report said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not released any official statement about the reassignment of diplomats so far. Separate media reports that National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) would replace Alexander Yui (俞大㵢) as Taiwan’s top envoy in the United States were denied by diplomatic sources.

There are no plans to replace Yui or appoint a new representative in Washington, the sources said.