Taiwan is to establish a US$2 million fund to subsidize Taiwanese medical teams that serve Pacific Islands Forum member states, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday.
Wu made the announcement at a Sustainable Development Goals 17 roundtable in Nauru, one of the nation’s diplomatic allies.
The roundtable was organized by Nauruan President Baron Divavesi Waqa to bring together his nation’s developmental partners and forum members to discuss ways to build a stronger region, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a news release.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Wu, who is leading Taiwan’s delegation to the forum, in the roundtable’s opening address talked about the nation’s long-term dedication to the development of Pacific countries’ agriculture, education, medicine and infrastructure, the ministry said.
“In light of Pacific nations’ dire need for medicine and healthcare, Wu announced the establishment of a US$2 million special medical fund that will be used to subsidize our professional medical teams traveling to the forum’s member states to provide medical services,” the ministry said.
The fund would complement Taiwan’s existing medical assistance programs in the region and provide funding to Taiwanese medical teams in the Pacific to enhance treatment of patients with special conditions, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The fund would be available from next month to August next year, ministry spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said, adding that Norway, Cuba, Canada, Italy and India announced similar programs at the roundtable event.
The forum is an intergovernmental organization established in 1971 to enhance cooperation among Pacific Ocean nations. It has 18 members, six of which have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan: Nauru, Tuvalu, Palau, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands.
Taiwan has since 1993 participated in forum events as a developmental partner under the name “Taiwan/Republic of China.”
The forum’s annual gathering attracted particular media attention on Tuesday, after Waqa accused Chinese envoy Du Qiwen (杜起文) of being “insolent” and a “bully” for interrupting others during a leaders’ meeting.
“He insisted and was very insolent about it, and created a big fuss and held up the meeting of leaders for a good number of minutes when he was only an official,” Waqa said. “Maybe because he was from a big country he wanted to bully us.”
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique