The reopening of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Guam, which had been set for this month, would be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero on Monday last week said that she tested positive for the virus, but added that she only exhibited moderate symptoms and would continue to lead the fiscal and COVID-19 response teams from home.
As of yesterday afternoon, the US territory of nearly 168,000 people had reported 577 confirmed cases, with five deaths.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The Guam office is expected to reopen at the end of next month, but there is still uncertainty amid the pandemic, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
The office was closed in 2017 due to budget and personnel allocation issues, while its re-establishment reflects closer Taiwan-US ties and the growing strategic importance of the Pacific region, the ministry said previously.
The ministry’s work with the US focuses on boosting bilateral cooperation — including in defense or trade — working to lift restrictions on bilateral exchanges and continuing to invite US Cabinet officials to Taiwan, Department of North American Affairs Director-General Douglas Hsu (徐佑典) told the news conference.
Hsu made the remarks when asked to comment on a New York Times report that said the US was seeking to bolster Taiwan’s status, but without recognizing its sovereignty.
In other news, Somaliland’s representative office in Taiwan is expected to open early next month, Somaliland Representative to Taiwan Mohamed Omar Hagi Mohamoud told the Taipei Times in a message, but added that he could not at the time reveal the office’s location.
Mohamoud arrived in Taiwan on Friday last week and is in isolation until Friday.
Taiwan’s representative office in Somaliland was opened on Monday.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said
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