Taiwan’s state-owned Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China (中國輸出入銀行) is to reduce a more than 20-year-old debt owed by Niger of US$183 million to US$20 million under an agreement announced by a senior government official on Friday.
Faced with mounting financial difficulties, the west African nation — which established diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1992 — took out two loans with the bank for a total of US$60 million before breaking off relations again in 1996 and formally recognizing Beijing.
After the government failed to begin payments on the debt, the bank pursued the case in a US court and won a decision in 1998 that ordered Niger to pay US$76 million.
“The Nigerien state never responded to any order to pay. The interest rate increased and in 2015 the state of Niger found itself with a bill of US$183 million,” Gandou Zakara, the Nigerien government’s secretary-general, said.
Under the deal, Niger immediately paid US$5 million. The remaining US$15 million is to be paid over a period of 20 years at an interest rate of 1.75 percent.
“The signature of this agreement puts an end to the litigation between the Republic of Niger and Taiwan,” Zakara said.
Niger is among a number of African nations that have in the past played upon and benefited from both Taiwan and China’s desire to win diplomatic allies on the continent.
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
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
A pro-Russia hacker group has launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Taiwanese government in retaliation for President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments suggesting that China should have a territorial dispute with Russia, an information security company said today. The hacker group, NoName057, recently launched an HTTPs flood attack called “DDoSia” targeting Taiwanese government and financial units, Radware told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). Local tax bureaus in New Taipei City, Keelung, Hsinchu and Taoyuan were mentioned by the hackers. Only the Hsinchu Local Tax Bureau site appeared to be down earlier in the day, but was back
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