A DPP legislator yesterday joined the Liberian ambassador to call for aid from non-governmental agencies in an attempt to help ease the battle-scarred African state's em-erging humanitarian crisis.
"We need tents because people are sleeping outside. We need sleeping bags, dehydrated foods and mosquito repellant," said Liberian Ambassador John Cummings in a press conference yesterday.
"The supply is dwindling," Cummings said, adding that a growing number of refugees are sleeping in a roofless football stadium in the Liberian capital of Monrovia.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
DPP Legislator Lai Chin-lin (賴勁麟), who joined Cummings at the press conference, said the non-governmental sector should step up its efforts in offering humanitarian aid to Taiwan's diplomatic ally.
Reminding citizens of the timber Liberia shipped to Taiwan in an attempt to help rebuild homes in the wake of the 921 earthquake, Lai said it's time for Taiwanese to lend a hand to their Liberian counterparts.
At a time when the future political landscape of the war-stricken state is not yet clear, it would be unwise for the government to lead the aid project in fear of being thought of as siding with a particular party in the conflict, Lai said.
Cummings echoed Lai's view, saying: "In this particular case, the government has to be neutral."
The Rotary Club of Luchou (
Materials instead of financial donations are preferred, Lai said.
The ambassador said the materials would be channeled into the hands of Liberian refugees through a local branch of the Rotary Club in the name of the newly founded "Taiwan Liberia Emergency Relief Network."
Since Charles Taylor -- a former warlord -- became president of the country in 1997, Taiwan has remained a major source of help to the country and the people of Liberia have been grateful to Taiwan regardless of their factions and political orientations, Cummings said.
Donations can be made through the Liberian embassy. The contact number is (02) 28751212.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS