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and Principe that involve four professionals, two family members and five substitute military personnel, who would be withdrawn in two stages.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.
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A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
One of two tropical depressions that formed offshore this morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. It is expected to move in a northwesterly direction as it continues building momentum, possibly intensifying into Typhoon Mitag this weekend, she added. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is expected to approach southeast of Taiwan on Monday and pass through the Bashi Channel between Tuesday and Wednesday,
About nine Taiwanese are “disappeared,” detained, or otherwise deprived of freedom of movement in China each month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Between Jan. 1 last year and Aug. 31 this year, 188 Taiwanese travelers went missing, were detained and interrogated, or had their personal freedom restricted, with some questioned in airports or hotel lobbies, the council said. In a statement ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the council urged people visiting China for any reason to be highly vigilant and aware of the risks. Of the reported cases, 50 people were “disappeared” after entering China, 19 were detained and 119 had
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