Mrs Konrad Mizzi is still Malta’s consul-general in Shanghai. And look what “she’s done for us”

This was published yesterday by a Chinese English-language news portal.

Sai Mizzi Liang is there as Malta’s consul-general in Shanghai, and her big achievement is appointing a Chinese boxer as a ‘tourism envoy’ for Malta.

Months ago, the Foreign Ministry appointed Ruth Farrugia, a former consul in Toronto, to replace Mrs Mizzi. Ms Farrugia is currently in Shanghai, but will not answer questions on her status.

Mrs Mizzi’s position is completely anomalous, because consuls-general are appointed by and accountable to the Foreign Ministry, yet she went to Shanghai with a contract from Malta Enterprise, strictly speaking as an envoy of that organisation, which falls within the remit of Christian Cardona, Minister for the Economy.

Given the news that a replacement has been found for Mrs Mizzi in her Malta Enterprise role, the government now has to answer questions about her consul-general position, which duplicates that of Ms Farrugia, and whether she will continue to be paid the same package while staying on in that duplicated position.

A side note: however short Mrs Mizzi is – and she must be under five feet – huge platforms are both completely out of date and wholly inappropriate for somebody on official duty. She should save them for shopping and partying – it’s not as though Shanghai is packed solid with tall people anyway. But that’s a really minor observation compared to the way the government is cheating and lying to us about matters concerning her.