The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has closely monitored the nation’s diplomatic ties with the Dominican Republic for “a long period of time,” an official said yesterday in response to a warning that the Caribbean ally could be growing closer to Beijing.
At a legislative committee meeting, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) pointed to signs suggesting the possibility that the Dominican Republic could switch its allegiance from Taipei to Beijing.
He said Dominican Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Vargas met with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) during the UN General Assembly last month, at which Vargas did not voice support for Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
During a question-and-answer session at the meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) said the ministry has closely watched the Dominican Republic for a long time.
Lee said that he visited the Caribbean ally in July and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Maria Liu (劉德立) traveled there in August, adding that Liu is headed to the Dominican Republic “right now” to strengthen ties.
However, Lee did not meet with Vargas in July.
The ministry at the time said that Vargas was on an overseas trip and had his deputy welcome Lee instead.
However, there is no immediate threat of the Dominican Republic cutting ties with Taiwan, said a ministry source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.
Liu’s trip is meant to enhance bilateral cooperation, the source added.
Vargas met with Wang last month because the Dominican Republic is trying to secure a nonpermanent member seat on the UN Security Council and was soliciting China’s support, the source said.
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