■ Diplomacy
Lin assumes office at WTO
The new head of the Permanent Mission of the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu to the WTO was warmly greeted by mission members upon his arrival in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday. Lin Yi-fu (林義夫), an experienced official in foreign trade affairs, attended the 2003 WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun, Mexico, in his previous capacity as minister of economic affairs. His mission in the new post is to join in the WTO's efforts to conclude the Doha round of trade talks.
■ Diplomacy
Taiwanese Americans help
Three New York Taiwanese community leaders headed for Geneva to help with Taiwan's bid to enter the World Health Organization (WHO). Lee Cheng-san (李正三), who is president of a pro-Taiwan overseas Taiwanese group, the Global Alliance for Democracy and Peace, Huang Chin-chih (黃靜枝) and Huang Man-yu (黃滿玉) said before they departed that they want to boost Taiwan's chances of entering the World Health Assembly (WHA) -- the governing body of the WHO. Lee called on China, which has forced the WHA to exclude Taiwan's bids from its agenda since 1997, to reach out to the Taiwan people by stopping its unreasonable blockage. Huang Chin-chih said it is a shame that Taiwan has been excluded from the world health body despite its generous contributions to international disaster relief operations. It denies the WHO a valuable member and denies the Taiwan people, he said. The WHA is gathering in Geneva for its annual conference from May 16-25. Taiwan sent a delegation of veteran diplomats and leading politicians to Geneva to try once again to get included on the agenda.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
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