The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday thanked the Paraguayan and US governments for helping arrange a charter flight to evacuate 21 Taiwanese who had been stranded in the nation due to border closings, who are expected to return home today.
Paraguay on March 25 stopped accepting civilian flights, except for humanitarian charters, due to COVID-19 concerns, the Republic of China (ROC) embassy in Asuncion wrote on Facebook.
The embassy thanked the US embassy in Asuncion for sharing information about an Eastern Airlines flight chartered by the US government, allowing 21 Taiwanese and an American spouse to board the flight to Miami on Tuesday.
Photo copied by Lu Yi-shuan, Taipei Times, from the Facebook page of the Republic of China embassy in Paraguay
It sent staff to Silvio Pettirossi International Airport to help with the evacuees with customs clearance and boarding, the ROC embassy said.
The US embassy on May 20 informed the other foreign missions in Paraguay of its attempt to arrange a charter flight from Asuncion to Miami, and said foreign tourists could book seats with the airline, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said yesterday in Taipei.
In Miami, the Taiwanese would board a flight operated by a Taiwanese airline, and were expected to arrive home late tonight, she said.
As per entry regulations, they would be sent directly to designated quarantine sites for a 14-day stay before being allowed to return home.
The ROC and US embassies maintain positive relations and frequent contact, as demonstrated by the charter flight, Ou said, thanking the US and Paraguayan governments, as well as the airlines, for helping the stranded Taiwanese return home.
Paraguay is one of Taiwan’s 15 diplomatic allies and the only one in South America.
The 63-year-old ties between the two nations are facing increasing pressure from China, although the Paraguayan Senate on April 17 voted 25-16 against a proposal by opposition and pro-China senators to switch ties to Beijing, Americas Quarterly reported last month.
Former ambassador to Paraguay Diego Chou (周麟) returned to Taipei soon after the vote, but the ministry on April 22 said his return was a normal rotation.
Taiwan’s new ambassador to Paraguay, Jose Han (韓志正) on Tuesday presented his letter of credence to Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez, the embassy said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard