Premier Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday the government did not promise a large aid package to the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu in exchange for diplomatic recognition of Taiwan.
Yu made the remarks during a Legislative Yuan question-and-answer session where Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Sun Guo-hua (
"Previous foreign wire service reports said Taiwan pledged to offer a grant of US$28 million (NT$950 million) to Vanuatu but later reports said the aid amount could reach US$6 billion. Were those reports correct?" Sun asked.
In response, Yu said the government is likely to pledge aid while establishing diplomatic relations with a specific country, but has never pledged an extremely large special offer to a single diplomatic ally.
Even though he has not yet read the joint communique signed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (
Asked whether the reported US$6 billion aid offer could be paid out of the confidential budgets of the Presidential Office or the national security units, Yu ruled out that possibility, saying that all of the nation's foreign aid has consistently been listed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' "secret budget" section.
Vanuatu forged full-fledged diplomatic ties with Taiwan last Thursday after Vohor signed a joint communique with Chen to that effect. Vanuatu, which has a population of about 200,000, is Taiwan's 27th diplomatic ally.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
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