Taiwan will seek ways to assist Kosovo in its rebuilding efforts but is still mulling over the best way to play a role in the project, said Sun Wen-cheng (宋文城), deputy director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of European Affairs yesterday.
Asked if Taiwan would consider giving money or humanitarian assistance through non-governmental organizations (NGO) such as the International Cooperation Development Fund instead of using official channels, Sun said it was still up in the air, but added: "There are some things that NGOs cannot do."
In 1998, Taiwan tried to donate US$300 million to Kosovo but was prevented from attending the donor's conference by the international community.
Taiwan granted Kosovo official recognition on Feb. 19, two days after it declared independence from Serbia. However, Taiwan was deleted from the thank-you list posted on a Kosovar non-government Web site within a few hours because of interference from China.
Sun said that Taiwan still maintains contact with some Kosovo officials, but that not much progress had been made because the country has yet to establish a foreign ministry.
At the same press conference, Sun dispelled recent rumors that Beijing was ready to normalize relations with the Holy See ahead of the Olympic Games in August.
"The Vatican has made it clear that it will not establish official ties with China before the Olympics. Taiwan-Vatican ties remain firm and stable," he said.
Sun, however, said the Vatican and Beijing had reached a compromise over the issue of appointing Chinese bishops.
Sun also said that a number of European Parliament members and other retired officials are scheduled to arrive in Taiwan this month to observe the election. The names of the foreign observers might not be released until shortly before the poll, he said.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
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