Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) left for a secret visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday to extend condolences on the death of the country's vice president and prime minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) confirmed yesterday.
Unusual
Chen's visit was unusual due to the absence of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and the UAE. The foreign minister paid several visits to the UAE last year to discuss an ongoing project to open a new representative office in Abu Dhabi, the UAE's capital.
Currently, Taipei maintains a commercial office in Dubai.
Quiet departure
A foreign ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Chen left for the UAE on Thursday afternoon, one day after the UAE's prime minister Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al-Maktoum died.
In addition to offering condolences on the death of the prime minister, Chen also relayed congratulations to General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the younger brother of the late Sheikh Maktoum.
Sheikh Mohammed will succeed his brother, taking over as ruler of the Gulf Arab Emirate of Dubai, vice president and prime minister.
The official said Chen's visit was a good opportunity for Taiwan to strengthen ties with the small oil-rich Middle Eastern country.
Chen earlier said one of the foreign ministry's ongoing projects is to re-develop ties with countries in the Middle East.
Taiwan lost diplomatic relations with Middle Eastern countries in the 1970s when its representation in the UN was replaced by China.
Earlier breakthrough
A major breakthrough in relations with Middle Eastern nations came when Chen visited the UAE in April.
Following that trip, the director of Taiwan's Chinese Petroleum Corporation, Kuo Chin-tsai (郭進財), visited the UAE in May and signed a letter of intent with the local petroleum companies for a mutual cooperation project.
In September, President Chen Shui-bian (
Mark Chen is scheduled to return to Taiwan Monday afternoon.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all