Taiwan will reopen its representative office in Libya, whose operations were suspended on Feb. 21 amid political turmoil, once the situation becomes stable and clear, Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said yesterday.
However, the ministry did not set a timeframe for resuming operations at the mission because of the uncertainty and ongoing political tensions in the country.
Yang made the remarks during a question-and-answer session in the legislature in response to a query from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Peng Shao-chin (彭紹瑾).
The Chinese-language United Evening News yesterday reported that the country’s national security authorities on Sept. 4 had ordered the closure of the Taiwan Commercial Office in Tripoli, the country’s only overseas mission in northern Africa, and evacuated all personnel.
The order came after Ma Chao-yuan (馬超遠), the country’s representative to Libya, and other Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials were confronted by Libyan Transnational Council fighters as well as forces loyal to toppled Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi on various occasions after they had returned to the country to reopen the office, the United Evening News said.
However, Samuel Chen (陳士良), director-general of the ministry’s Department of African Affairs, said the report did not conform to the facts.
Ma, who was transferred to the ministry’s Department of West Asian Affairs after returning from Libya, returned to that country last month not to resume the office, but to deal with the aftermath of the Taiwanese mission’s hasty departure earlier this year, such as retrieving personal belongings and terminating housing contracts, Chen said.
Chen said the suggestion proposed by the ministry to temporarily suspend the office was approved by the Executive Yuan on July 20, not by national security authorities as the newspaper had reported.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
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