The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) declined to make any comment yesterday on a newspaper report that Taiwan had assisted in flying Afghan President Hamid Karzai to Japan for an international meeting early this year.
Speaking at a regular news conference, MOFA spokeswoman Katharine Chang (張小月) said the ministry was not aware of the reported event and thus didn't have any information to provide.
Instead, Chang reiterated the government's stance of supporting all anti-terrorism activities of the international community.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Chang said, the government has consistently maintained that all countries around the world should cooperate in fighting global terrorism.
Chang stressed that the Tai-wanese government and private sector's participation in the global anti-terrorism campaign mainly focuses on humanitarian aid and relief.
According to Chang, Taiwan has shipped food, blankets, tents and trucks to help Afghan refugees when the US attacked the now-defunct Taliban regime in Afghanistan in retaliation for its sheltering of Osama bin Laden -- the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile, Chang said, Tai-wan has exchanged information with other countries regarding movements of suspected members of international terrorist groups.
A Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday that, at the request of the US, a passenger aircraft from Taiwanese air carrier China Airlines picked up Karzai and his aides Abu Dhabi during a regular commercial flight en route from Europe to Taipei in January.
"Requests to flyi Karzai had been rejected by the other air carriers for fear of becoming the target of reprisal by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda group," the paper said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
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