Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co (慶富造船) twice this year asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for help securing a loan, but the requests were rejected, a source close to the matter said yesterday.
In its requests to the ministry, Ching Fu said the loan was for a shipbuilding project it had undertaken in Tuvalu, one of the nation’s allies in the South Pacific, the source said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
The company had built a ship for Tuvalu in 2009 at a cost of US$15.5 million and was working on a second vessel that it started in 2012 and was scheduled to complete in 2015, the source said.
Photo: Wang yi-sung, Taipei Times
However, Ching Fu has not finished the second ship, and on June 3 and June 16 it sent letters to the ministry asking for help to secure a loan to complete the project, the source said.
The ministry turned down the two requests, saying that the contract was between Ching Fu and the Tuvaluan government, and that it would be inappropriate for the ministry to intervene, the source said.
The ministry said it would become involved only if the dispute between the two parties put the nations’ diplomatic relations at risk, the source said.
Asked to comment on the issue, ministry spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said the ministry did not use taxpayers’ money to help Ching Fu complete the shipbuilding projects in Tuvalu.
It was purely a commercial dispute between the Tuvaluan government and Ching Fu, Lee said, adding that the ministry was never involved.
He said the Tuvaluan government has not asked the ministry or Taiwan’s embassy in that nation to assist in the matter.
However, the ministry did ask the embassy to closely monitor developments in the case, Lee said.
Ching Fu has been embroiled in a fraud scandal over a contract that it won from the Ministry of National Defense in October 2014 to build six minesweepers at a cost of NT$34.9 billion (US$1.16 billion at the current exchange rate).
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
HOTEL HIRING: An official said that hoteliers could begin hiring migrant workers next year, but must adhere to a rule requiring a NT$2,000 salary hike for Taiwanese The government is to allow the hospitality industry to recruit mid-level migrant workers for housekeeping and three other lines of work after the Executive Yuan yesterday approved a proposal by the Ministry of Labor. A shortage of workers at hotels and accommodation facilities was discussed at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee. A 2023 survey conducted by the Tourism Administration found that Taiwan’s lodging industry was short of about 6,600 housekeeping and cleaning workers, the agency said in a report to the committee. The shortage of workers in the industry is being studied, the report said. Hotel and Lodging Division Deputy Director Cheng
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
RSS