Large democratic countries in the world should adopt strategies to counter China’s bullying, particularly small developing countries such as Palau, Palauan Ambassador to Taiwan Dilmei Louisa Olkeriil said last week.
Olkeriil’s comments came as Palau Pacific Airways earlier this month decided to suspend operations, ending services to Hong Kong and to Macau through the island of Bali — its only destinations — after a drop in Chinese visitors.
The drop in visitor arrivals resulted from Beijing’s ban on group tours to Palau, imposed in November last year because of the Pacific island nation maintains diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
The majority of Palauans support the country’s diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Olkeriil told the Central News Agency on Friday last week.
“We are a democratic country, and we support and promote our relationship with countries with the same system of government, such as Taiwan,” Olkeriil said.
“Everyone knows that China pressures other countries and international organizations not to support Taiwan; organizations like the UN, WHO and World Health Assembly,” Olkeriil added.
Taiwanese hospitals have saved the lives of thousands of Palauans, making it difficult for Palau to break ties with Taiwan, Olkeriil said.
Taiwan and Palau established formal ties in 1999 and have since then collaborated in areas spanning agriculture, green energy, medical and healthcare, talent cultivation and tourism.
Visitor arrivals from China totaled 70,741 in 2016, 55,491 last year and 25,659 in the first six months of this year, Palauan Bureau of Immigration statistics showed.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS