Officials from Taiwan and the US on Tuesday attended a virtual forum on sharing the successful “Taiwan Model” of containing COVID-19 and on reinstating Taiwan’s observer status at the World Health Assembly (WHA), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
“High-level officials representing the American Institute in Taiwan [AIT], the US Department of State, the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Representative Office and the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs convened for a virtual forum on expanding Taiwan’s participation on the global stage,” the US Department of State said in a news release.
The AIT in a separate release said that the discussion “focused on creating forums to share the internationally lauded ‘Taiwan Model’ on fighting the pandemic with other countries.”
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Participants also discussed efforts to reinstate Taiwan’s observer status at the WHA, and ways for closer coordination between Taiwan and the WHO, it said.
“Countries around the world can benefit from better understanding the Taiwan Model, as well as the generous contributions and impressive expertise Taiwan — a vibrant democracy and force for good — brings to the global community,” it said.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kelly Hsieh (謝武樵) and Representative to the US Stanley Kao (高碩泰) led the Taiwanese delegation, including officials from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, at the forum held in Taipei and Washington, the foreign ministry said.
The US’ attendees included AIT Washington Office Managing Director John Norris, AIT Director Brent Christensen, Acting US Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Pam Pryor and US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Atul Keshap, it said.
The number of senior officials attending showed that both sides valued the forum, as well as close Taiwan-US ties, it said, thanking the administration of US President Donald Trump and the US Congress for continuing to support Taiwan’s participation in international organizations.
Taiwan would continue working with the US and other like-minded partners to expand its international participation, so as to realize its promise that “Taiwan can help, and Taiwan is helping,” the foreign ministry said.
‘LONE WOLF’: The suspect was difficult to locate, as he did not use a cellphone, did not contact family and often lived in abandoned sites or parks, police said Taipei police on Thursday morning arrested a man accused of numerous burglaries and at least 14 incidents of sexual assault spanning more than 20 years, in what might be the nation’s most notorious crime spree in recent years. Sixty-year-old Tu Ming-lang (涂明朗) — who was yesterday placed in judicial detention, after a judge determined he was a flight risk without a fixed address — faces multiple charges of sexual assault and burglary, police said. A task force comprised of various law enforcement agencies arrested Tu as part of an investigation into an April 28 burglary in Daan District (大安), in which a
The majority of parents surveyed in northern Taiwan favor the suspension of all on-site classes at schools from the junior-high level and below amid a surge in domestic COVID-19 infections, parent groups said yesterday. About 84.4 percent of respondents in a survey of 2,912 parents in northern Taiwan, where the outbreak is the most serious, said they supported suspending classes, the Action Alliance on Basic Education, the Taiwan Parents Protect Women and Children Association, and the Taiwan Love Children Association said. The groups distributed questionnaires to parents in New Taipei City, Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan and Hsinchu city and county from Saturday morning
ASEAN BATTLEGROUND: Japan and Australia could be drawn into Pacific tensions as China sets its sights on the Diaoyutai Islands and further beyond the first island chain Tensions between China and the US in the Indo-Pacific region are expected to intensify, the National Security Bureau and Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, recommending that Taiwan continue to emphasize its shared values and interests to encourage resistance to Chinese aggression. US commitments in the Indo-Pacific region are expected to continue unabated despite the war in Ukraine, as Beijing takes advantage of the conflict to expand its influence in the region, the agencies said in reports delivered to the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Sunday, ahead of a hearing yesterday on regional developments and trends. Although Russia’s invasion of
ONLINE REPORT: Confirmed cases filling out the online contact tracing report can check a box to indicate that a close contact had received a booster dose, an official said The guidelines for diagnosing COVID-19 have been revised to include people aged 65 or older who test positive with a rapid test that is confirmed by a healthcare worker, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 65,794 new local infections. The CECC had first announced the change on Monday, before publishing the new guidelines. Starting today, people aged 65 or older, regardless of whether they are undergoing home quarantine, home isolation or self-disease prevention, can be classified as a confirmed COVID-19 case by a healthcare professional, based on a positive result from an antigen rapid test, said