President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will take the opportunity when visiting Taiwan’s South Pacific allies to drum up support for the country’s bid to participate in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said yesterday.
Yang said that Ma hoped to let Taiwan’s allies know that it not only “attaches great importance to the issue of climate change and empathizes with their situation,” but also “would like to work with them” to tackle the problem.
Taiwan is also keen to share its experience of developing alternative energy industries with its allies, especially Tuvalu, Marshall Islands and Kiribati, atoll countries highly vulnerable to climate change, Yang told a press conference yesterday.
Ma and a 90-member entourage, including the Formosa Aboriginal Song and Dance Troupe (原舞者), reporters, five Aboriginal lawmakers and officials, will also visit Nauru, the Solomon Islands and Palau.
MOFA originally arranged for Ma to attend a leadership summit between Taiwan and the six nations last October, but the plan was postponed because of Typhoon Morakot.
“The President has decided to take an approach that differs from previous summit meetings ... to show that we are very concerned about and value the development of the region,” Yang said.
The visits will also demonstrate Taiwan’s determination to actively promote cooperative projects with allies: a sanitation and healthcare project focused on ophthalmology will help the Marshall Islands treat eye disorders and there is a plan to set up a fishery incubation center and hatchery in Kiribati.
Taiwan will help Tuvalu with job training for its fishing industry, assist Nauru to be self-sufficient in at least six kinds of agricultural and livestock products within three years, equip the Solomon Islands’ parliament building with solar panels and hold an exhibition to showcase Taiwan’s Aboriginal culture in Palau, Yang said.
The delegation will leave on on Sunday and return on March 27, with a 60-minute and 90-minute refueling stopover at a civilian airport in Guam on the way there and back respectively.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
RSS