In the wake of a US court ruling in favor of Grenada for its default on loans issued by Taiwan’s state-owned Export Import Bank, a senior official at the bank has reportedly scheduled a visit to the Caribbean country next month.
Earlier this month, Acting Grenadian Prime Minister Nazim Burke, who is also the Grenadian finance minister, was quoted by media in Grenada as saying that he is looking forward to the bank chairman’s visit.
Remarks by bank spokesperson Lin Shui-yung (林水永) contradicted the report. Lin said by telephone yesterday that the bank’s senior officials had no plans to visit.
On June 22, Judge Harold Baer of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York overturned a previous court order under which Taiwan had been allowed to siphon payments owed to Grenada by airlines and cruise ship companies into an escrow account for the past nine months.
Paul Summit, a lawyer of the Boston-based law firm of Sullivan & Worchester, reportedly plans to appeal the judge’s ruling, while the chairman of The Grenada Airports Authority reportedly said the bank has filed an appeal.
However, the news was confirmed by neither the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the bank.
The ministry adopted an extremely low-profile approach in dealing with the case and when it referred to questions related to plans to recover the payments in default.
Ministry spokesperson Steve Shia (夏季昌) said the ministry respected the bank’s decision on whether and how to demand repayment according to the terms in the loan contracts because they were “commercial loans.”
An official of the bank, who requested to remain anonymous, said the bank has not decided on whether to appeal against the ruling or to seek out-of-court settlement and reschedule the debts.
How to proceed with the case was not entirely the bank’s decision, the bank official said, adding that the ministry has had “a finger in the pie” since the very beginning when the loans were negotiated.
“Cases like this pertain to the nation’s foreign policy. Commercial loans are simply policy loans in disguise,” the official said.
The bank filed a lawsuit against Grenada in December 2006 after the country, which has failed to repay certain principal installments and interest since April 2004, switched its diplomatic allegiance from Taipei to Beijing in 2005.
Grenada defaulted on four multimillion-dollar loans totaling approximately US$21 million made by the bank between 1990 and 2000.
In early 2007, the bank won a summary judgement against Grenada and has attempted to obtain what was mandated ever since.
A court ruling showed that in December 2010, the bank sought fulfillment of a judgement against Grenada for US$25 million, contempt sanctions of US$10,000 per day based on Grenada’s alleged failure to comply with a court order regarding post-judgement discovery, and an additional US$10,000 in attorneys’ fees.
Yen Chen-shen (嚴震生), a research fellow at the Institution of International Relations of National Chengchi University, suggested the ministry waive the loans in consideration of Grenada’s hardships if the money lent to the country was used for the benefit of its people.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all