Marshall Islands President Kessai Note is scheduled to arrive in Taipei today for a five-day visit, his sixth in the past five years.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Note would meet President Chen Shui-bian (
Note first visited Taiwan in May 2002, and then in May and December 2004. Note and his wife visited at Chen's invitation in April 2005 and November last year.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman David Wang (
A source told the Taipei Times that Note would play golf with former presidential advisor Koo Kwan-min (
As Chen is scheduled to visit the Marshall Islands in October, Wang said that Note was expected to discuss details of the upcoming Taiwan Pacific Allies Summit with Chen during their meeting.
Wang confirmed yesterday that Taiwan had promised to donate US$5 million to the Marshall Islands to build facilities for the summit to be held in the capital, Majuro, in October.
The facilities will be donated to the Marshall Islands following the summit, he said.
The first summit of Taiwanese allies was held in Palau in September last year, bringing Chen together with the heads of the six Pacific island states holding diplomatic ties with Taipei. They are the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Nauru, Palau, the Solomon Islands and Kiribati.
Wang declined to say what Taiwan's annual grants to the Marshall Islands amounted to, saying that the government wanted to keep the total secret from China.
During last year's Taiwanese allies summit, Chen said that it was unlikely that the nation's Pacific allies would switch their diplomatic alliance to China in the foreseeable future, and that his administration would carefully manage relations with them and other diplomatic partners.
He also said that Taiwan was different from China in terms of offering aid packages, because "we don't write blank checks. Instead, we offer practical and useful programs designed to solve their problems."
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS