The government officially recognizes Kosovo and seeks to establish relations with all freedom-loving countries, Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) said yesterday.
The announcement came one day after China condemned Taiwan for congratulating Kosovo on its newfound statehood, saying Taiwan does not have the right to "recognize" Kosovo.
Huang denied that yesterday's announcement was a reaction to Beijing's criticism.
"China's opposition did not come into our consideration. As a sovereign nation, Taiwan has the right to do whatever it believes is correct and just," he said.
Huang said that Taiwan is interested in establishing friendships and forging diplomatic ties with all countries that uphold the values of freedom and democracy.
He said Taiwan had made contact with Kosovar media and officials on several occasions over the past two years.
"We look forward to further contact with Kosovo in the future," he said, adding that Taiwan would provide aid to Kosovo if required.
He said Taiwan had planned to recognize Kosovo since its declaration of independence, but had waited for major countries to make their stance clear. Had Taiwan not made its announcement yesterday, it might have appeared that Taipei was cowed by Beijing, he said.
In announcing the US' recognition on Monday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cautioned that Kosovo was a "special case" and "cannot be seen as a precedent for any other situation in the world today."
When asked if Rice was talking about Taiwan, Huang said "every country is a special case."
President Chen Shui-bian (
In a speech to the foreign ministry's spring dinner for the Taipei diplomatic corps at the Grand Hotel, Chen urged all democracies to work together in unity and support all groups seeking democratic progression.
Additional reporting by staff writer, with CNA
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man