Taiwan's ambassador to Senegal, Huang Yun-cheh (
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Michel Lu (呂慶龍) said that Huang had met with Foreign Affairs Minister Mark Chen (陳唐山) on Monday afternoon for a detailed report on the matter. Lu said that Huang had promised to shoulder the responsibility for the nation losing another ally.
Lu said that as Huang's ambassadorship had been a political appointment, his position was terminated because he had nothing left to do in Senegal.
Senegal's move came as a shock to the nation as it gave no prior warning that it would resume diplomatic ties with Beijing. Huang was heavily criticized for not seeing any warning signs of an imminent diplomatic setback.
Senegal first established diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1960, but these were severed in 1964. In 1996, the two countries restored relations, which lasted until last Tuesday, when Senegal switched its diplomatic allegiance to Beijing.
According to Lu, Huang attributed his being unaware of the situation to "deliberate concealment" by Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, who allegedly leaked the news to only a few aides around him. A number of top-ranking officials who have the president's ear were allegedly excluded from Wade's scheme to re-establish ties with Beijing.
Huang refused to speak to the press yesterday, saying he had already reported to Chen in detail, Lu said.
In other developments, it was reported on Saturday that Taiwan's relations with the Holy See are under threat, as the Vatican is preparing to break its ties with Taiwan and establish diplomatic relations with China within 18 months.
An anonymous source in the Vatican was quoted as saying that "it is not a question of whether the Vatican will reach a deal with Beijing, but when."
The issue that up to now has prevented the Vatican from establishing ties with Beijing is the Pope's right to appoint bishops in China. Officially Catholics in China can only attend state-sanctioned churches in a "Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association" led by bishops appointed by Beijing. However, underground Catholic practitioners reportedly number more than 8 million -- and are often persecuted by Chinese authorities.
Lu said he hadn't heard of the Vatican's alleged 18-month time-frame to beak ties with Taiwan and reiterated that, in the foreseeable future, China's lack of respect for religious freedom will remain a major block to normalizing its relations with the Vatican.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS