China Airlines (中華航空), one of Taiwan’s major carriers, is to offer an additional direct flight to Palau from June 1, bringing the total number of weekly flights to four, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told Palauan President Tommy Remengesau on Friday.
Tsai, who is in Palau on the first leg of a visit to three Pacific island allies, said that she delivered the good news to Remengesau, hoping that it would prompt more Taiwanese to visit the Pacific nation.
China Airlines, which is partly state-owned, currently offers three direct flights per week between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Roman Tmetuchl International Airport near Koro.
Photo: EPA-EFE / Presidential Office / Handout
The airline began providing charter flights between the two nations in 2008 and scheduled services in 2009.
The average passenger load on the regular flights has reached about 80 percent over the past year, the airline said earlier this year.
Palau’s economy relies heavily on tourism and in the past few years a large percentage of visitors have been Chinese.
Beijing is widely believed to be trying to woo Taiwan’s remaining 17 allies, including six in the Pacific.
In late 2017, China banned Chinese travel agencies from arranging group tours to Palau, apparently to pressure the island nation to switch diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
However, Palau has maintained diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
It is hoped that the extra China Airlines flight will attract more Taiwanese travelers visit to Palau, but it is unclear whether there would be enough to fill the loss in Chinese tourists.
Tsai made the announcement at a signing ceremony for an agreement on sea patrol cooperation between the two nations.
Under the pact, Taiwan’s 1,800-tonne Hsun Hu No. 7 patrol frigate participated in a joint marine patrol exercise with Palauan vessels yesterday, said Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Director-General Chen Kuo-en (陳國恩), a member of Tsai’s entourage.
With the sea patrol cooperation accord, the two nations would also join hands to fight cross-border maritime crimes and protect each other’s fishing boats, Chen said.
Thanks to the cooperation, Taiwanese patrol boats would also be able to dock in Palau to replenish supplies during missions, Chen said, adding that the two nations would also conduct training and exchanges of sea patrol personnel.
Yesterday’s drill, which focused on marine rescue operations, was the first of its kind between Taiwan and Palau, CGA Fleet Branch head Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said.
Tsai is to head to Nauru for a visit today and tomorrow, before traveling to the Marshall Islands on Tuesday to attend the first Pacific Women Leaders’ Coalition Conference.
It is her sixth overseas trip since taking office in May 2016.
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday criticized the nuclear energy referendum scheduled for Saturday next week, saying that holding the plebiscite before the government can conduct safety evaluations is a denial of the public’s right to make informed decisions. Lai, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), made the comments at the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting at its headquarters in Taipei. ‘NO’ “I will go to the ballot box on Saturday next week to cast a ‘no’ vote, as we all should do,” he said as he called on the public to reject the proposition to reactivate the decommissioned
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved an aid and recovery package authorizing the government to allocate up to NT$60 billion (US$1.99 billion) for regions hit by Typhoon Danas and subsequent torrential rains last month. Proposed by the Executive Yuan on Aug. 7, the bill was passed swiftly after ruling and opposition lawmakers reached a consensus in inter-party talks on relief funding and assistance for disaster-stricken areas. The package increases the government’s spending cap from the originally proposed NT$56 billion to NT$60 billion, earmarked for repairing and rebuilding infrastructure, electricity systems, telecommunications and cable TV networks, cultural heritage sites and other public facilities.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
RSS