The government yesterday announced plans to donate US$250,000 to Indonesia to help with relief work in the wake of a magnitude 6.9 earthquake that left scores dead on the island of Lombok.
The earthquake struck Lombok on Sunday evening, killing at least 130 people.
“My thoughts are with the victims of the deadly earthquake in Lombok, Indonesia. Taiwan stands ready to help our Indonesian friends at this difficult time,” President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) wrote on Twitter on Monday.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
At a news conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Director-General Baushuan Ger (葛葆萱) announced that Taiwan would donate US$250,000 to assist relief efforts.
However, the details of the donation would not be announced until a later date, Ger said.
The Taipei Economic and Trade Office (TECO) is in talks with local officials and non-governmental organizations to see how the money could best be used to help victims of the quake, he added.
During an interview on Monday, Indonesian special envoy to Taiwan, Ang Tjoen Ming, said he hoped that Taiwan’s donation could be used to help earthquake victims build 100 houses, as many homes in Lombok were damaged or destroyed.
Expressing Taiwan’s concern over the earthquake, Ger said that Indonesia is an important partner in Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy.
A large number of Indonesian workers are employed in Taiwan, while another 6,000 students from Indonesia attend schools in Taiwan, he added.
There are 259,930 Indonesian workers in Taiwan out of a total foreign workforce of 670,000, Ministry of the Interior data showed.
Meanwhile, TECO officials have been in contact with 17 Taiwanese who were in Lombok during the quake, Ger said, adding that all were confirmed to be safe.
The Taiwan Business Club, a Jakarta-based organization representing Taiwanese businesses in Indonesia, yesterday said it would join an effort by TECO to collect donations for quake victims.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS