Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) protested Taiwan’s designation as “Taipei, China” at the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) annual meeting, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
A ministry official in Chuang’s delegation to the meeting in Incheon, South Korea, said by telephone that Chuang repeated Taiwan’s demand to correct the name and voiced “our disagreement over the unilateral alteration of our membership designation.”
Established in 1966, the bank is owned by 68 members, with 49 from the region. Chuang serves as a board governor.
Photo courtesy of Asian Development Bank
Taiwan was one of the bank’s founding members, but it has been called “Taipei, China” since 1986, when the People’s Republic of China joined the bank.
Chuang protested the designation during her speech, saying that Taiwan has fulfilled its obligations and responsibilities as a member of the bank, the ministry said.
She urged ADB member nations to respect each other and allow Taiwan to participate in the bank’s activities on an equal footing.
On its Web site, the Manila-headquartered bank says that Taiwan has provided it with US$1.54 billion in capital as of Dec. 31 last year, and has also contributed or committed US$133.43 million to the bank’s special funds since becoming a member.
A total of 1,102 goods, works and related service contracts worth US$1.51 billion, and 83 consulting contracts valued at US$49.67 million, have been awarded to contractors, suppliers and consultants from “Taipei, China,” the Web site says.
The annual meeting was held from Tuesday through Friday under the theme of “Rebounding Asia: Recover, Reconnect and Reform.”
The ministry official said that Chuang discussed a range of topics at the annual meeting, with a particular focus on climate change, regional cooperation and gender equality.
She urged the bank to make stronger and more effective efforts to build climate resilience for environmentally vulnerable developing member countries, such as small island states, the official said.
Chuang also stressed the importance of bolstering domestic resource mobilization among developing member countries to improve their capacity to collect taxes and other revenue to provide better public services and economic support.
Regarding gender equality, Chuang said that Taiwan has been ahead of its peers on the issue and was willing to share its experience with its partners.
Chuang and central bank Deputy Governor Chu Mei-lie (朱美麗), who is Taiwan’s alternate governor to the ADB, are next to attend the 63rd annual governors’ meeting of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) in the Dominican Republic from Thursday to Saturday.
Chuang is to participate in her capacity as a governor at the CABEI, the ministry said.
Taiwan joined the CABEI in 1992 under its official Republic of China name as a non-regional member, with an 11.09 percent stake in the bank, the highest among the body’s seven non-regional members.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
RSS