President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday made a stopover in Mumbai, India, en route to Africa, becoming the first Taiwanese president to make a transit stop in the South Asian giant.
The stop in Mumbai came as a surprise because the itinerary the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had released showed that Ma would make a stopover in Dubai.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添), who is accompanying Ma on the 12-day trip to three of Taiwan’s African diplomatic allies, said the ministry did not announce the stopover until the last minute because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Photo: CNA
Ma’s plane landed yesterday morning at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai for refueling, and Ma was greeted at the airport by Taiwanese representative to India Philip Ong (翁文祺), officials of Taiwan’s representative office in India and local government officials.
During the 85-minute stopover, Ma stayed in the airport’s VIP lounge and did not meet any government officials from India, the ministry said.
Ma yesterday thanked both India and the United Arab Emirates for agreeing to the stopovers and said their purpose was for refueling.
“There were other countries that also agreed to let us make transit stops, and we cherish the diplomatic achievements,” he said.
Yang said India agreed to the stopover because of the Ma administration’s record of keeping its promises and as a result of Taiwan’s diplomatic efforts over the past three years.
He denied that pressure from China was behind the last-minute announcement of the stopover in Mumbai.
Yang said the ministry had contacted several other countries before choosing Mumbai as the refueling stop.
“All of them responded positively,” he said.
However, he declined to name which countries had agreed to stopovers, saying that anonymity was part of the agreement.
Ma and his delegation will visit Burkina Faso, the Gambia and Swaziland during his first trip to Africa since taking office in 2008.
A scheduled visit to Sao Tome and Principe was canceled because Ma’s visit coincided with Sao Tomean President Manuel Pinto da Costa’s visit to Cuba, raising concerns about the stability of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
The trip to Africa marked Ma’s sixth official trip overseas since 2008. He has made stopovers in the US during his previous five foreign trips.
He visited India in 2007 shortly after announcing his presidential bid.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS