President Chen Shui-bian (
An official at the Presidential Office, who asked not to be identified, yesterday said that Chen would leave for Majuro on Oct. 11 and return on Oct. 14. The four-day journey will be straightforward as the main purpose of Chen's trip is to attend the summit.
The first summit was held in Palau in September last year, bringing Chen together with the heads of the nation's six Pacific island allies -- the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Nauru, Palau, the Solomon Islands and Kiribati.
The six island nations represent a quarter of the countries around the world that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan and have helped the nation in its campaign to win a UN seat and representation in other international organizations.
Kiribati and Nauru were the only two allies in the Pacific that did not speak in favor of Taiwan's UN membership bid during the UN General Assembly last month. However, they were among the country's 16 diplomatic allies who endorsed the campaign.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that five of the Pacific allies had confirmed that their presidents would attend the summit. Kiribati President Anote Tong would assign Vice President Teima Onorio to attend the event on his behalf.
As Chen has expressed hope that New Zealand would attend the event as an observer, the ministry said it was making efforts to make this possible.
Deputy Director of the ministry's Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Yu Te-sheng (于德勝) said that the summit agenda includes discussions on the environment, global warming, fishing and sustainable development.
The summit will conclude with the signing of a joint communique to strengthen multi-level cooperation, he said.
The Presidential Office is scheduled to hold a press conference to offer more details about the trip on Friday.
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
RSS