A Chinese corporation has pledged A$1 billion (US$648.85 million) to Nauru, the Pacific Islands nation with a population of 12,000 said yesterday, as major powers including the US push for influence in the region.
The announcement comes ahead of tomorrow’s meeting of foreign ministers of the Pacific Islands Forum regional bloc and the region’s top political meeting next month.
The Solomon Islands, which hosts the annual leaders meeting and is China’s biggest ally in the region, made the surprise decision to block 21 donor countries, including China and the US, from attending after pressure from Beijing to exclude Taiwan.
Photo: AFP
The US expressed disappointment with the move, but yesterday made its own US$60 million pledge to the region under a 2022 treaty, as news of the Chinese agreement with Nauru was made public.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on Monday told Pacific Islands officials in Washington that the long-promised funds would be released, the US Department of State said.
Meanwhile, Australia, the largest forum member, has sent high-level delegations to Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu for security talks.
Nauruan Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Lionel Aingimea signed the A$1 billion economic development proposal in Beijing with the China Rural Revitalization and Development Corp (國家鄉村振興發展總), a statement posted on the Nauruan government’s Web site said.
The deal, signed last week, would develop Nauru’s renewable energy, phosphate industry, fisheries, water, agriculture, transportation and health sectors, it said.
Next month’s Pacific leaders meeting would consider regional security, with Australia seeking to block China from forging further security ties in its Pacific neighborhood.
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢) and Minister for Defence Richard Marles and Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy are today to hold security talks in Vanuatu, with Australian Broadcasting Corp reporting a deal worth A$500 million over a decade under consideration.
Marles yesterday opened the Lombrum Naval Base in Papua New Guinea, which he said was the largest security infrastructure project delivered by Australia in the Pacific.
The upgrade to the base was funded by the US and Australia.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
RSS