World leaders announced a US$50 billion boost in development aid yesterday, declaring the deal was a message of hope that countered the hatred behind the London bomb attacks.
"We speak today in the shadow of terrorism but it will not obscure what we came here to achieve," British Prime Minister Tony Blair declared, flanked by fellow leaders of the G8 states and seven of their African counterparts.
Blair, who skipped much of Thursday's session to handle the aftermath of the bombs in London, did not give a timetable for reaching the aid target.
Campaigners said they understood the deal was to double overall aid to some US$100 billion by 2010, with about half of that destined for Africa. They had pressed for the boost immediately, saying a delay would cost millions of lives.
"There is no hope in terrorism or any future in it worth living and it is hope that is the alternative to this hatred," Blair said on the steps of the Gleneagles hotel.
"We offer today this contrast with the politics of terror," he said.
"It isn't all everyone wanted but it is progress, real and achievable progress," he said. "It isn't the end of poverty in Africa, but it is the hope that it can be ended."
They agreed to start a dialogue on Nov. 1 with the major emerging economies on how to slow down and later reverse the rise in greenhouse gases which cause global warming.
Environmental groups have criticized their accord as too vague to pose a serious challenge to climate change.
The leaders pledged to end farm-export aid but set no deadline. They also called for renewed efforts to conclude a new phase of world trade liberalization by the end of next year.
Blair had been determined that his twin priorities of action on global warming and African poverty would not be wrecked by the London bombings.
But he brought forward his closing news conference by one hour yesterday to allow him to head back to London in the early afternoon and take charge of the crisis.
Blair also announced a US$3 billion aid deal for the Palestinian Authority -- a pledge he said would allow "two states, Israel and Palestine, two peoples and two religions [to] live side by side in peace."
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
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