MARITIME
Fishing boat crew rescued
Eight crew members of a Taiwanese fishing vessel that ran aground near Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼) off Keelung were rescued early yesterday morning. The National Airborne Service Corps (NASC) said its helicopters airlifted all eight fishermen who were waiting onshore, after receiving a call for help from the Executive Yuan research command center at 4:20am. The fishermen had jumped from the boat after finding it was leaking oil and swam to the islet on their own, the NASC said. No one was injured. The crewmembers were later transported to Taipei. The Pengjia Islet is located 56km northeast of the port of Keelung. The islet has an area of 114 hectares. Inhabited by a handful of lighthouse, weather, and army personnel, Pengjia is administered by the Keelung City Government.
DIPLOMACY
Pelosi congratulates Ma
US House of Representatives minority leader Nancy Pelosi recently sent a message to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to congratulate Taiwan on the 100th birthday of the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan’s representative office to the US said on Friday. The Democratic leader described Taiwan as an important economic, cultural, military and political partner of the US, the office said. She underlined that the bilateral partnership was built on the basis of mutual interests, solid friendships in the private sector, common democratic politic ideas and the value of freedom and human rights. Pelosi also reiterated that the US Congress would continue to be a fundamental source of support for Taiwanese. The office added that the congratulatory message meant a lot to the ROC.
DIPLOMACY
HK No. 2 good for Taiwan
The appointment of Stephen Lam (林瑞麟) on Friday as Hong Kong’s chief secretary will be conducive to relations between Taiwan and Hong Kong, said Darby Liu (劉大貝), vice chairman of the Hong Kong-Taiwan Business Cooperation Committee, which fosters bilateral exchanges on trade, investment and tourism. Lam, 55, previously Hong Kong’s constitutional and mainland affairs secretary, succeeds Henry Tang (唐英年) as the territory’s No. 2 official. Lam’s career has not been without controversy. He has often been criticized by Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp for “blindly listening to Beijing’s instructions” and sticking too closely to Beijing’s ideals of governing Hong Kong.
HEALTH
Dengue outbreak in Penghu
Seven patients in Penghu County have been confirmed as infected with indigenous dengue fever, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Friday, adding that it was the first time in 10 years the archipelago had seen such an epidemic. All the cases were reported in Magong (馬公), the county’s capital, CDC Deputy Director-General Shih Wen-yi (施文儀) said. The case number is the second-largest in Taiwan, he said. Since the beginning of summer, Taiwan had recorded 238 confirmed cases of dengue fever infection as of Wednesday. Of those cases, 211 were in Greater Kaohsiung, Shih said. Penghu has little experience in combating dengue fever outbreaks. In response, the CDC has dispatched quarantine personnel to the county to help with disease control and prevention, the official said. Shih said anyone who falls ill with symptoms such as fever, headache, pain behind the eyes or muscle and joint pain should visit a doctor at once.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
NEW WORLD: Taiwan is pursuing innovative approaches to international relations through economics, trade and values-based diplomacy, the foreign minister said Taiwan would implement a “three-chain strategy” that promotes democratic values in response to US tariffs, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said. Taiwan would aim to create a “global democratic value chain,” seek to capitalize on its position within the first island chain and promote a “non-red supply chain,” Lin was quoted as saying in the ministry’s written report to the Legislative Yuan submitted ahead of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting slated for today. The Ministry would also uphold a spirit of mutual beneficial collaboration, maintaining close communication and consultations with Washington to show that Taiwan-US cooperation
Taiwan and the US have begun trade negotiations over tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump earlier this month, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said in an interview this morning before reporting to the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), Taiwan’s de facto embassy in the US, has already established communication channels with the US Department of State and the US Trade Representative (USTR), and is engaging in intensive consultations, he said. Points of negotiation include tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers and issues related to investment, procurement and export controls, he
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