DIPLOMACY
Apostille agreement signed
An agreement to abolish the requirement to double-check public documents made with Nicaragua was signed on Wednesday last week to simplify document legalization procedures and promote bilateral exchanges, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday. The agreement was signed by Ambassador to Nicaragua Wu Chin-mu (吳進木) and Nicaraguan Minister of Foreign Affairs Denis Moncada, the ministry said in a news release. However, it would not be implemented until both nations complete their internal procedures, it said. Once the agreement goes into effect, documents from Taiwan would only need to be verified at the Bureau of Consular Affairs or at ministry offices in Taiwan before they can be used in Nicaragua, it said, adding that documents from Nicaragua to be used in Taiwan would only need to be verified in Nicaragua.
CHARITY
Huge rummage sale at TAS
After 48 years, the Taipei American School (TAS) Orphanage Club is to host its final rummage sale tomorrow from 10am to 5pm. The school no longer has space for the club to store the items it collects for its twice-a-year rummage sale and annual book sale, so the club is transporting 10 truckloads of items from its temporary storage space for a combined rummage and book blowout. There are thousands of books for readers and learners of all ages, household items, clothes, shoes and art ranging from Japanese Washi dolls in glass cases to handicrafts from Russia, Mongolia and Central America. All of the proceeds are to go to the club’s funds for needy children and orphans in Taiwan and overseas, for whom it has raised more than US$2 million since 1970. The school is at No. 800 Zhongshan N Road Sec 6 in Tianmu (天母).
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
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