President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) arrived in the Gambia on Wednesday to a welcome ceremony led by Gambian President Yahya Jammeh.
The red-carpet ceremony at Banjul airport began with a review of an honor guard and the playing of the national anthems of both countries. They were followed by traditional singing and dancing by thousands of performers lined up on either side of the red carpet.
At the conclusion of the hour-long ceremony, Jammeh accompanied Ma on the ride to his hotel aboard a military Hummer, as thousands of well-wishers greeted the leaders along the route.
Photo: CNA
The Gambia is the second leg of Ma’s three-nation state visit to Africa, that also includes Burkina Faso and Swaziland.
Prior to wrapping up his four-day, three-night visit to Burkina Faso, Ma said Taiwan’s relations with its 23 diplomatic allies have been stable over the past four years thanks to the “flexible diplomacy” promoted by his administration.
Under the policy, the government has stressed that the Republic of China should not be isolated by Chinese pressure in the international community so that cross-strait relations can develop smoothly, he said.
This approach has led to major progress in Taiwan’s efforts to expand its international participation, including its attendance at the World Health Assembly as an observer, accession to the Agreement on Government Procurement and its inclusion in the visa-waiver programs of various countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, he added.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
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China has reserved offshore airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts that are usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. The alerts, known as notice to air missions (NOTAMs), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert
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