President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday accepted the credentials of the new ambassador of Nauru to Taiwan, Jarden Kephas, at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
Tsai welcomed Kephas to his new post and said she looked forward to working closely with him to open up new areas for cooperation between Taiwan and Nauru, and further strengthening their diplomatic partnership.
Nauru held parliamentary and presidential elections last month.
Photo: CNA
“With your arrival in Taiwan, Ambassador Kephas, and through our joint efforts, I am sure that relations between our countries will continue to grow,” she said.
Taiwan and Nauru are both maritime nations and close diplomatic allies, she said.
Over the past three years, the two nations have forged stronger cooperation and exchanges in all domains, including healthcare, agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries and clean energy, she added.
Tsai said that she had the opportunity to observe first-hand the success of this bilateral cooperation during her state visit to Nauru in March.
She said the two nations are continuing efforts to bolster cooperation: Last month, a Taiwanese fact-finding mission visited Nauru to explore trade opportunities, and this month, an official delegation of agricultural and port authorities are to travel to Nauru to better understand potential collaboration in related industries.
In the international arena, Nauru has demonstrated its friendship to Taiwan.
“I want to thank Nauru for its longstanding support for Taiwan’s international participation. I am confident that our countries will work together to make even greater contributions to the world,” Tsai said.
She said Taiwan would adhere to the spirit of “steadfast diplomacy and mutual assistance for mutual benefit,” sharing its experience with Nauru to jointly advance prosperity.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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