The search for the seven remaining Taiwanese businessmen missing off the coast of Madagascar since last Friday will continue until the family and the Malagasy government call it off, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, adding the two bodies that were discovered on Monday night have already been sent to the capital Antananarivo.
MOFA Spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said it would be up to the local government and the families of the deceased to decide whether the bodies should undergo autopsies to determine the cause of death.
Antananarivo has reportedly dispatched several military aircraft and vessels to help with the massive search for the seven missing men. The daily rescue mission starts from sun-up until sundown, Chen said.
Chen, however, refused to divulge the cost of the daily search, saying it is up to the families and the Malagasy government to decide when to call off the search effort.
Chen said two representatives from the families and one MOFA official are in St. Marie, an island off the east coast of Madagascar from which the eight Taiwanese businessmen and one Chinese businessman left on their fishing ground inspection last week prior to their disappearance.
Two Malagasy crew members that were reportedly on the same vessels have been rescued, but the search mission commandant has barred the MOFA official from questioning the two workers, saying Taiwanese officials have no legal right to interrogate a Malagasy national.
Chen said the commandant, however, had agreed to go to the hotel where the family representatives were staying to answer questions.
The businessmen have been missing since last Friday.
So far, only the bodies of one Taiwanese businessman, Liu Shou-chih (劉守智), and Chinese businessman Li Bo (李波) have been found.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
EVERYONE’S ISSUE: Kim said that during a visit to Taiwan, she asked what would happen if China attacked, and was told that the global economy would shut down Taiwan is critical to the global economy, and its defense is a “here and now” issue, US Representative Young Kim said during a roundtable talk on Taiwan-US relations on Friday. Kim, who serves on the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, held a roundtable talk titled “Global Ties, Local Impact: Why Taiwan Matters for California,” at Santiago Canyon College in Orange County, California. “Despite its small size and long distance from us, Taiwan’s cultural and economic importance is felt across our communities,” Kim said during her opening remarks. Stanford University researcher and lecturer Lanhee Chen (陳仁宜), lawyer Lin Ching-chi
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