A water-supply system funded by Taiwan has been inaugurated in Sao Tome and Principe, one of the nation’s diplomatic allies in Africa, with the aim of resolving long-standing water problems at the country’s military headquarters, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Ambassador John Chen (陳忠) told the opening ceremony that Taiwan was pleased to continue its cooperative programs with Sao Tome and Principe and would assist with other infrastructure projects once the government’s budget allows for it.
The contractor for the water system, a company called ABC, said the two storage tanks with a total capacity of 105,000 liters will be able to supply the military headquarters with water for an estimated 72 hours if the main water system fails.
Meanwhile, Taiwan recently launched an initiative in Haiti, another of the nation’s allies, to develop a white-sand beach called Point Sable in the south of the country.
Ambassador to Haiti Hsu Mien-sheng (徐勉生) said the beach had great tourism potential and expressed the hope that private businesses would join in developing the area.
In related developments, a local religious foundation delivered relief supplies yesterday to residents of a slum in South Africa whose homes were razed in a fire.
The Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation said its South African branch had visited a slum area called Langa near Cape Town to distribute blankets, flour, oil and sugar to the residents of more than 470 households.
The residents of the slum have been forced to stay in tents since losing their homes in the fire earlier this month.
The foundation said that since last week it had distributed hot meals every day to some 2,000 people in the area.
It said it was also taking the opportunity to raise awareness among children in the area of the importance of environmental protection.
The foreign ministry, whose overseas staff also helped with the distribution of the supplies, said that travelers from the Netherlands who happened to be in the area at the time of the fire had made a donation to support the relief efforts.
Meanwhile, closer to home, Taiwan’s business association in the Philippines donated 50 wheelchairs earlier this month to Makati City as part of its efforts to improve the lot of the country’s marginalized minorities.
Makati and Taichung are sister cities, the ministry said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS