The Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied yesterday media reports quoting Paraguay’s vice president-elect that Taiwan had pledged a massive donation to its incoming government to help landless farmers in the country.
Paraguayan vice-president-elect Federico Franco said on Asuncion-based Radio Cardinal on Friday that the Republic of China (ROC) embassy officials had promised a US$71 million donation upon the new government’s inauguration.
“I’ve met with authorities at the Taiwanese embassy and they confirmed to me that they will donate US$71 million to the country when the [Fernando] Lugo government assumes office on Aug. 15,” Franco was quoted as saying by the Buenos Aires-based news agency Impulso Baires.
The money will be used to settle landless peasants in the country, the report said.
Lugo, a former leftist Catholic bishop, won the presidential vote last month and will be sworn in on Aug. 15 for a five-year term.
During his presidential campaign, Lugo estimated that about 300,000 peasant families were without farmland and promised to resolve the problem, the report said.
The situation has grown into a crisis as thousands of landless farmers began to occupy private lands owned by Brazilian soy growers, the Central News Agency reported.
In Taipei, ministry spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (葉非比) denied the reports.
“The incoming Lugo government has expressed its wish [for the donation], but we haven’t discussed any details yet,” Yeh told the Taipei Times by telephone.
“Taiwan has always had projects with Paraguay. Those projects with the current government are going quite well,” she said. “The amount of aid to Paraguay is decided by the content and schedule of the projects.”
Yeh said it was still too early to discuss future aid projects with the incoming government, as it wouldn’t come into power until August.
Paraguay, which has maintained diplomatic ties with Taiwan since 1957, is one of only 23 countries that recognize Taiwan and is Taiwan’s only ally in South America.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is scheduled to visit Latin American and Caribbean allies, including Paraguay and the Dominican Republic, in the fall, Chinese-language newspapers have reported.
Additional reporting by DPA
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS