Taiwan and the Marshall Islands yesterday celebrated the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties with the raising of their national flags and singing of their anthems aboard a Coast Guard Administration (CGA) patrol vessel docked at a port in the Marshall Islands.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and Marshallese Minister of Foreign Affairs John Silk attended the event on the 84.5m-long vessel to bring a celebratory end to Wu’s three-day visit to mark Tuesday’s anniversary.
“Deeply moving moment during the flag-raising ceremony aboard CGA’s Shun Ho No. 7. To hear the anthems of #Taiwan & the #MarshallIslands in such a beautiful part of the world steeled my resolve to work even harder in helping like-minded countries achieve lasting prosperity,” Wu said on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Twitter account.
Photo from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Twitter timeline
Wu reportedly made the trip to show support for the Pacific island nation at a difficult time, as Marshallese President Hilda Heine on Monday last week narrowly survived a vote of no confidence that was apparently initiated by Chinese-backed business interests.
At a meeting with Wu on Tuesday, Heine pledged that as a sincere friend of Taiwan, the Marshall Islands would continue to support its meaningful participation in international organizations.
Heine later observed Wu and Silk ink two agreements, one on law enforcement cooperation, and another on strategic cooperation and partnerships.
Photo from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Twitter timeline
The pacts would allow the two nations to institutionalize their gradually expanding cooperation and deepen their partnership, the ministry said in a news release.
To demonstrate the nations’ strong ties, the Marshallese Legislature unanimously passed a Taiwan-friendly resolution.
A maritime rescue drill was also conducted on Tuesday by the CGA and its Marshallese counterpart.
At an evening banquet, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in a prerecorded video told attendees that she emphasizes the nation’s ties with the Marshall Islands and hopes that the two nations could march toward another 20 years of friendship.
On behalf of the government, Wu donated to the Marshall Islands two multipurpose patrol vessels, 60 tonnes of rice for emergency relief and six vehicles for official use, the ministry said.
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