An institute administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding in Taipei with a US-based think tank to launch a program aimed at training young leaders in Pacific Island countries.
The five-year program between the ministry’s Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs and the East-West Center based in Hawaii is scheduled to start next year, Joseph Shih (石定), president of the institute, said at the signing ceremony.
“The program will see 25 participants [from the region] each year spending two months in Hawaii and one month in Taiwan,” he said.
The Taiwan portion of the training will help participants learn more about the country’s economic development and its long-standing cooperation with Pacific Island nations, Shih added.
“We hope to bring a new resource to the Pacific Islands — a generation of young leaders who will shape the future of the region,” he said.
Meanwhile, East-West President Center Charles Morrison said the program is “to provide leadership training for young Pacific Island leaders and to help them become more effective in their future jobs leading their countries.”
The program is open to any Pacific Island entity, he said.
Asked about the cooperation with Taiwan, Morrison said the nation has great experience in the region working with many Pacific Island governments and societies.
It is also important for Pacific Island leaders to learn about Taiwan’s experience in the areas of economic development, protection of resources and governance, Morrison said.
One of the purposes of the program is to help the participants better understand issues important to the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world, he said.
Taiwan can share its experience of relations in the region, including the Taiwan-China issue, he added.
The decision to launch the program came after a visit to Taiwan by US Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah last year to explore cooperation opportunities, Shih said.
The East-West Center was established by the US Congress in 1960.
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of
RSS