Palauan President Tommy Remengesau has asked the US and Japan to help his nation’s tourism industry after Beijing reportedly barred Chinese citizens from visiting the tiny Pacific island due to its diplomatic links with Taiwan.
Palau had not received official confirmation of a ban, but there had been a fall in visitors from China, one of its largest tourism markets, with one airline forced to suspend operations due to the plunge in demand, Remengesau said.
Remengesau said Taiwan had already promised to help by increasing flights to Palau and that he had also asked Washington and Tokyo for assistance.
“I approached Japan, I said: ‘Please build one or two high-end hotel-resorts in Palau,’” he told reporters on Wednesday. “I have approached Taiwan, I have approached the United States... Just one investment can go a long way to help maintain the economic progress of a small nation such as Palau.”
Remengesau said he also planned to ask South Korea and the EU to encourage tourists to visit Palau.
He ruled out revoking Palau’s diplomatic recognition of Taiwan in order to gain favor with Beijing, saying “we are good friends ... through thick and thin.”
Chinese tourists accounted for 47 percent of international visitors to Palau in 2016, with Taiwanese making up 10 percent.
However, Palau Pacific Airways earlier this month said that it had been forced to suspend flights because of a drop in Chinese tourists.
A letter from the airline’s Taiwanese owner, Sea Passion Group, to Palau’s national congress accused Beijing of branding the Pacific island “an illegal tour destination,” denting its business.
China’s growing influence in the Pacific has caused concern in Australia and New Zealand, which have long regarded Oceania as their own backyard.
After years of inaction, Canberra and Wellington have significantly boosted aid spending in the region this year in a bid to win back hearts and minds among the island nations.
China’s role in the region is set to be high on the agenda at the 18-nation Pacific Islands Forum annual meeting in Nauru in September.
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
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
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
RSS