Qatar’s ruler yesterday arrived in Saudi Arabia and was greeted with an embrace by its crown prince, following an announcement that the kingdom would end its embargo on the tiny Persian Gulf state.
The decision to open borders was the first major step toward ending the diplomatic crisis that has deeply divided US defense partners, frayed societal ties and torn apart a traditionally clubby alliance of Arab states.
The arrival of Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in the kingdom’s ancient desert city of Al-Ula was broadcast live on Saudi TV. He was seen disembarking from his plane and being greeted with a hug by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, though both wore masks due to COVID-19 precautions.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The emir is in Al-Ula for an annual summit of Gulf Arab leaders that is expected to produce a detente between Qatar and four Arab states that have boycotted the country, and cut transport and diplomatic links with it since 2017 over Doha’s support for Islamist groups and warm ties with Iran.
The diplomatic breakthrough comes after a final push by outgoing US President Donald Trump’s administration and fellow Gulf state Kuwait to mediate an end to the crisis. It was not until late Monday that the decision to end the spat was announced.
The timing was auspicious: Saudi Arabia might be seeking to both grant the Trump administration a final diplomatic win and remove stumbling blocs to building warm ties with US president-elect Joe Biden’s administration, which is expected to take a firmer stance toward the kingdom.
It was unclear what, if any, significant concessions Qatar had made toward shifting its policies. The boycott largely failed to change Doha’s regional posture, instead buoying Sheikh Tamim domestically as patriotic fervor swept through Qatar in support of his resolve.
The boycott also pushed Qatar closer to Saudi Arabia’s rivals Turkey and Iran, which rushed to support the Gulf state when it faced shortages in medical and food supplies in the first days of the embrago.
Qatar’s only land border, which it relied on for the import of dairy products, construction materials and other goods from Saudi Arabia, has been mostly closed since June 2017, when the kingdom, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain launched their boycott.
While Riyadh’s decision to open its airspace, land and sea borders with Qatar marks a milestone toward resolving the dispute, the path toward full reconciliation is far from guaranteed. The rift between Abu Dhabi and Doha has been deepest, with the UAE and Qatar at sharp ideological odds.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash wrote on Twitter late on Monday that his country was keen to restore Gulf unity, but cautioned: “We have more work to do.”
The summit is expected to see some form of detente between Qatar and the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain, in addition to a signing ceremony with Saudi Arabia.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary