An inter-ministerial meeting will be held to discuss when to stop scholarship payments to Sao Tomean students studying in Taiwan, including the children of the African nation’s president, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
Speaking at a routine news conference at the ministry yesterday morning, International Cooperation and Development Fund Deputy Secretary-General Lee Pai-po (李柏浡) said there are 68 Sao Tomean students in Taiwan who are receiving scholarship payments from the foreign ministry, the Ministry of Education or the fund.
They include the daughter and son of Sao Tome and Principe President Evaristo Carvalho.
Carvalho’s daughter is a graduate student at National Yang Ming University, while his son is reportedly a doctoral student of information technology at National Chengchi University.
However, the university on Wednesday said that Carvalho’s son suspended his studies last year.
“We will discuss the situation of 68 [Sao Tomean] students and lay out some principles. We might [keep providing scholarship] until they finish a semester or a year of studies,” Lee said.
Lee added that despite the pending termination of scholarship payments, Sao Tomean students would still be permitted to finish their studies if they pay their own tuition.
He made the remarks one day after Sao Tome and Principe, a nation with a population of about 200,000, announced that it is cutting 19-year-old diplomatic ties with Taiwan, reducing the number of Taipei’s diplomatic allies to 21.
Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) on Wednesday said that Taipei’s denial of the African nation’s request for an “astronomical amount of financial aid” prompted the decision, while political parties attributed the incident to China and the government’s cross-strait policy.
Lee said the fund has a team of experts and a special project in Sao Tome and Principe that involve four professionals, two family members and five substitute military personnel, who would be withdrawn in two stages.
As for Taiwan’s property and assets in the African nation, Lee said they worth approximately NT$1.7 million (US$53,075) and the government is inclined to donate them to local organizations it has cooperated with.
With regard to the removal of Taiwan’s embassy in Sao Tome, foreign ministry spokeswoman Eleanor Wang (王珮玲) said there are four officials at the embassy, adding that there is no timetable for the removal process, but it would be completed as soon as possible.
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
DIPLOMACY: It is Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo’s first visit to Taiwan since he took office last year, while Eswatini’s foreign minister is also paying a visit A delegation led by Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo arrived in Taiwan yesterday afternoon and is to visit President William Lai (賴清德) today. The delegation arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 4:55pm, and was greeted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). It is Arevalo’s first trip to Taiwan since he took office last year, and following the visit, he is to travel to Japan to celebrate the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Arevalo said at the airport that he is very glad to make the visit to Taiwan, adding that he brings an important message of responsibility
RSS