Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) left Taipei for Palau yesterday at the head of a six-member delegation to take part in celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of the Pacific island nation's independence.
During today's celebrations, Mark Chen, on behalf of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), will meet with Palauan President Tommy Remengesau and Vice President Sandra Pierantozzi for talks on issues of mutual concern, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said.
After three decades as part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific under US administration, Palau, the westernmost cluster of the Caroline Islands, gained independence on Oct. 1, 1994. The island nation has a population of just over 20,000. During his four-day stay, Mark Chen is also expected to view the operations of the ministry and the Taiwan agro-tech mission in Palau, as well as to inspect progress on various construction projects that are being carried out under a Taiwan-Palau cooperation pact, ministry officials said.
The officials said that Taiwan and Palau have maintained close and cordial bilateral ties since the two countries established formal diplomatic relations in 1999.
Remengesau and his wife came to Taiwan in May to attend the inauguration of Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮).
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ouyang Jui-hsiung (歐陽瑞雄) led a delegation to Palau in July to preside over ceremonies marking the opening of the Palau National Museum and the Palau National Cultural Center, projects that were completed with cash aid and technical assistance from Taiwan.
Taiwan forged a technical cooperation pact with Palau in 1984 and sent its first agro-tech aid mission to Palau the next year. Over the past 19 years, experts and specialists have rendered assistance to the island nation, particularly in the fields of marine ecology and aquaculture, ministry officials said.
Taiwan's private sector has also spared no effort to help Palau develop its tourism industry. Palau boasts one of the most extraordinary diving locations in the world. Three five-star hotels in Palau were built with Taiwanese funding, and a fourth is nearing completion.
Taiwan-based Far East Air Transport operates six weekly flights between Taipei and Palau. It carried some 28,000 Taiwanese tourists to Palau last year, helping Taiwan replace Japan as Palau's main source of tourists.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
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