The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has helped a private group to extend humanitarian assistance to two of Taiwan's allies in Africa -- Swaziland and Malawi.
Chang Pei-chi (
The delegation will travel to Swaziland Feb. 22 to 25 to distribute another 5,000 packs of corn powder, Chang said. With all the packs emblazoned with the Taiwanese national flag, it will help propagate the love from the people of Taiwan, he added.
He said that Malawi and Swaziland are longtime allies of Taiwan. In view of the food shortage in certain regions of the two countries, the foreign ministry wants to help private groups to provide humanitarian assistance, hoping to relieve food shortage as well as enhance bilateral friendships.
Meanwhile, Chang also said that the foreign ministry has turned over a private donation from Taiwan to Sao Tome and Principe, another Taiwan ally in western Africa.
Chang said that Lee Kong-wen (李孔文), chairman of O-TA Precision Industry, who was invited by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to a state dinner in honor of visiting Sao Tome and Principe President Fradique De Menezes Feb. 7 during which he was deeply moved by the speeches by the two leaders and decided to donate NT$2 million (US$60,422) to the country as a fund for the prevention of malaria.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard