A Taiwanese embassy formally opened yesterday in Kiribati, the tiny Pacific island nation that is Taiwan's newest diplomatic ally.
Attending the event were Kiribati President Anote Tong and Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (
Taiwan established diplomatic ties with Kiribati -- the first country each day to greet the sun -- on Nov. 7 last year.
Tong held a closed-door meeting with Chien prior to the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the embassy to discuss cooperation programs.
Having received President Chen Shui-bian's (
"We are very much a developing country," Tong said. "Nevertheless, we also hope to offer something [to Taiwan] in return."
Tong said he hoped Taiwanese businesspeople would find investment opportunities in Kiribati and that the two countries can carry out cultural exchanges.
Home to less than 100,000 people, Kiribati became independent from the UK in 1979.
The country until recently was home to a satellite station owned by China, which severed ties with Kiribati several weeks after Taiwan and Kiribati established diplomatic relations.
Chien, in his speech at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, thanked the Kiribati government for its generosity in choosing to locate the embassy in an area that is home to important government buildings.
The embassy is situated only hundreds of meters away from the former Chinese embassy. Chinese officials have left the country. Only a few caretakers remain in the embassy, one of the nicest buildings in Kiribati.
Tong said the site for the Taiwanese embassy is a historical one. It used to be the site of the British High Commission. It is also located close to the Kiribati government's headquarters.
Tong said he hoped that living arrangements close to the Taiwanese Embassy could be procured for embassy staff.
Tong and Chien both expressed appreciation of the efforts of Samuel Chen (
Chien also said it is a good thing that Samuel Chen's wife, Leigh Chen (
Samuel Chen, who worked non-stop through the Christmas and New Year's holidays to supervise construction of the embassy, said that he had gone through considerable hardship in getting accustomed to life in this remote land.
Although a one-way trip from Taiwan to Kiribati takes nearly 24 hours, Samuel Chen said he did not feel particularly lonely or homesick on the island, which currently has no Taiwanese immigrants.
The ambassador said his greatest challenge is getting used to the weather.
"It is very hot here," Samuel Chen said. "I often sweat profusely.
"The work is hard here. But I feel very proud when I realize that the hard work has cemented Taiwan's ties with Kiribati," he said.
Samuel Chen also said that Taiwan had dispatched business and agricultural teams to Kiribati to help with cooperation programs.
"It is a very special and rare experience to open a new embassy," the ambassador said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary