The Executive Yuan has approved a debt reduction proposal for Haiti, which will see the government repay the interest payments on the Caribbean ally’s debt to Taiwan for five years, Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said late on Monday night.
The move comes after other major donor nations and some international lending institutions forgave about 80 percent of Haiti’s external debt — estimated at US$1 billion — to help with reconstruction after the country was struck by a devastating magnitude 7 earthquake on Jan. 12.
Yang confirmed that Haiti owed Taiwan US$88 million during a question-and-answer with lawmakers at the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee last month.
Under the approved debt-reduction proposal, the government will appropriate public funds to help Haiti pay interest on the loan over five years and will allow Port-au-Prince to settle the debt with a repayment plan it agrees to after the period. Yang declined to reveal the amount needed to cover the interest payments, saying that the ministry would discuss the proposal with Haiti before it is finalized.
The debt-reduction plan partially answers international appeals for help from countries including Canada, the US, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Venezuela, as well as the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank.
Taiwan, however, did not meet calls from the US Congress, which passed bills last month urging the US Treasury secretary to use the “voice, vote and influence of the US” to urge all of the Caribbean island’s creditors to cancel “immediately and completely” Haiti’s debts.
The ministry previously said that it offered a debt reduction plan rather than completely canceling the debt because the money was taken from the country’s foreign reserves via lending contracts with two commercial banks and did not come directly from the treasury.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
RSS