The government is working on measures to assist Indonesia, which was struck by a massive earthquake on Sunday evening, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, adding that all Taiwanese tourists in the Southeast Asian nation were safe and sound.
Speaking at a routine news conference in Taipei, ministry spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said that the government is talking to concerned parties to get a better picture of Indonesia’s needs after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck the island of Lombok, killing at least 98 people.
“Taiwan has been an active participant in humanitarian relief and our policy is to never be absent in such efforts. We are talking to concerned parties to deliberate on the matter and to better understand Indonesia’s relief needs,” Lee said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of the Interior
The government plans to team up with the private sector in offering disaster relief to Indonesia, he said, adding that it is still deciding on the donation amount and where it should be spent.
The ministry’s announcement of a donation plan came just two days after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said on Twitter in English and Bahasa that Taiwan is ready to provide help to Indonesia.
“My thoughts are with the victims of the deadly earthquake in Lombok, Indonesia. Taiwan stands ready to help our Indonesian friends at this difficult time,” Tsai wrote.
In an interview with the Central News Agency on Monday, Indonesian special envoy to Taiwan Ang Tjoen Ming (翁俊民) said that if Taiwan is willing to offer assistance, it could help construct 100 housing units in quake-affected areas, which he said would only cost about US$250,000.
With regard to the situation of Taiwanese tourists in Indonesia, Lee said the ministry has established contact with 15 of them, 12 of whom were scheduled to return to Taiwan either yesterday or today.
The remaining three have yet to decide when they would return, he said.
The Taipei Economic and Trade Office in Jakarta is seeking to re-establish contact with an unknown number of Taiwanese tourists stranded on Gili Islands, northwest of Lombok.
“Because the islands’ electricity was later cut off, we have not been able to contact them. However, given that they did contact the office shortly after the quake, we believe they are all safe,” Lee said.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2