The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday declined to say whether it would recall Taiwan’s ambassador to St Lucia as requested by the Caribbean country’s newly elected leader, saying only that envoys posted abroad are evaluated regularly.
“Evaluations are held on a regular basis and a personnel reshuffle will be made under necessary conditions,” said Jaime Wu (吳進木), director-general of the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs.
The English-language China Post reported on Sunday that St Lucian Prime Minister Kenny Anthony had urged Taiwan to replace Ambassador Tom Chou (周台竹) after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is inaugurated for a second term on May 20.
“I have asked for the recall of Ambassador Tom Chou ... His behavior in St Lucia over the last couple of years is unacceptable to the government of St Lucia,” Anthony was quoted by the report as saying.
“As far as we are concerned, his presence in St Lucia is not in the best interest of Taiwan and the government and people of St Lucia, at this time,” he said.
Anthony, who was elected prime minister in November last year, has accused Chou of influencing St Lucia’s elections by supporting the then-ruling United Workers Party (UWP).
He also pledged to review diplomatic relations with Taiwan after taking power.
St Lucia first established diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1984, but switched recognition to China in 1997 after Anthony was elected prime minister for the first time. In 2007, the UWP government, which had regained power in 2006, renewed ties with Taipei.
St Lucia is one of Taiwan’s 23 diplomatic allies.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai