Taiwan would do its utmost to keep the nation’s diplomatic allies, Premier William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) added that while China and the Vatican are expected to later this month finalize which side has the right to ordain bishops, the accord would not hamper diplomatic ties between Taiwan and the Holy See.
Wu made the remarks at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei when asked by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) whether he can guarantee that the Vatican would not switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China.
The Vatican is allegedly on the verge of making a historic concession by asking two bishops to resign to make way for two Chinese bishops appointed by Beijing.
The intelligence that the ministry has gathered indicates that negotiations over the appointment of the bishops would not affect diplomatic ties between Taiwan and the Vatican, Wu said.
However, when pressed on whether he could ensure that the Holy See would not drop its diplomatic recognition, Wu did not give a definite answer, saying that he would do his utmost to prevent the scenario.
Saying that President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration is “at its wits’ end” over China’s courting of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, Lu asked Lai whether he could guarantee that Taiwan would not lose the Vatican as an ally.
“I believe that if China poaches our diplomatic allies, it will be the party that should be denounced,” Lai said.
There is “some distance” between Beijing and the Holy See signing an accord and the establishment of diplomatic ties, Lai said, adding that the government can only guarantee to do its utmost to consolidate ties with all 20 of its diplomatic allies.
Lu asked Lai whether China could siphon off Taiwan’s talent and capital with its “economic carrots” — such as the 31 incentives offered to Taiwanese businesses and the cultural and creative sector, and its approval of Foxconn Industrial Internet Co’s request to hold an initial public offering on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
These policies would definitely have an impact on Taiwan’s business sector, Lai said.
However, the public should have faith in the robustness of local industries and their productivity, not see them as inferior, Lai said, adding that the concern Lu raised is exactly why the 31 policies “disguised as incentives” would actually benefit China more than Taiwan.
He and his team have formulated policies to address the “five shortages” in the industrial sector, while the passage of the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法) and the Act for Industrial Innovation (產業創新條例) last year made the environment for foreign professionals and innovative firms in Taiwan “friendlier,” Lai said.
If Taiwanese businesses could consolidate their foothold and grow capacity, they would be able to retain both talent and capital, he said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching