Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) will chair Taiwan's annual conference with foreign ministers from its three Caribbean allies in Taipei today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
Foreign ministers from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Christopher and Nevis as well as Grenada arrived in Taipei yesterday, the ministry said in a press conference.
Eight officials, including the foreign ministers, will be attending the meeting, which will take place at the MOFA this afternoon, said Wu Chin-mu (吳進木), deputy director-general of the ministry's Department of Central and South American Affairs.
Taiwan's first annual conference with its Caribbean allies took place in St. Christopher and Nevis in 1997.
"We will discuss with our allies issues of mutual concern in depth and exchange opinions extensively. The aim of the meeting is to broaden our political, trade and cultural cooperation with the Caribbean allies and cement diplomatic ties," Wu said.
The visiting foreign ministers will visit an exhibition of stamps featuring their countries tomorrow and attend the opening ceremony of the Democratic Pacific Assembly, convened by Vice President Annette Lu (
President Chen Shui-bian (
In previous meetings between Taiwan and its Caribbean allies, the countries reaffirmed their pledge to support Taiwan's participation in the UN, the World Health Organization and other regional bodies.
Taiwan, in turn, promised to strengthen its existing trade, agricultural, tourism and cultural cooperation with its allies and help develop the countries' healthcare and information technology industries.
A senior ministry official who once participated in the conference said the meetings have boosted friendship between Taiwan and its allies.
"As a result of the meetings, Taiwan and its allies don't feel so lonely when facing China's pressure," he said.
"Our Caribbean allies are all members of the Commonwealth. They are democracies and respect human rights and freedom. In terms of these aspects, they are quite similar to Taiwan," the official said.
"Taiwan offers its allies practical help and designs aid programs according to its allies' needs in order to enhance these countries' living standard. These countries' leaders are thoughtful. They understand their nations can benefit substantially by making friends with Taiwan," he added.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai