Republic of Kiribati President Anote Tong yesterday called for cooperation among countries to tackle changes brought on by climate change, saying that it is a moral issue with responsibility shared by all nations.
Delivering a speech at the 44th annual conference of the Asian-Pacific Parliamentarians’ Union (APPU) in Taipei, Tong said that “business as usual is no longer an option” for climate change mitigation efforts.
In face of global warming, “low-lying countries will be the first to disappear,” Tong said, as he urged leaders of each country to take on more responsibility for the harm done through climate change.
Photo: CNA
The annual conference attracted 84 lawmakers from 14 countries in the region to discuss strategies on how to work together to manage natural disasters and foster regional collaboration on emergency relief.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday was invited to address the audience at the opening ceremony of the three-day APPU General Assembly.
Ma said in English that he was really impressed by the importance the APPU members have attached to issues of climate change and disaster relief.
Due to the exclusion of Taiwan from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Taiwan takes climate change very seriously, he said.
Ma said the country is in a good position to achieve his administration’s goals of bringing national carbon dioxide emissions back to 2005 levels by 2020, and further to 2000 levels by 2025 — if the nation is able to increase energy efficiency by 2.3 percent each year.
“Taiwan in 2006 was responsible for 1 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, and now it is 0.8 percent. In terms of per capita emissions, Taiwan was down from 18th in the world to 23rd. We have done our part, despite not being a signatory to the UNFCCC or the Kyoto Protocol, because, after all, the Republic of China is a responsible stakeholder in the international community. We will continue to do that,” Ma said.
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A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
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