The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday reiterated Taiwan’s sovereignty, saying that it has never been ruled by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The ministry issued the remarks after Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau was quoted by the Chinese-language edition of Russia’s Sputnik News Agency as saying in an interview in Lithuania on Monday that Poland recognizes the “one China” policy and that Taiwan is part of China.
The ministry would continue to stress to members of the international community that the Republic of China is a sovereign nation, not a part of the PRC, and that Taiwan’s future can only be decided by its 23.5 million people, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said yesterday.
Taiwan and Poland are democratic partners and would continue deepen bilateral relations, she said, adding that the two countries had so far signed 22 agreements, with the most recent one — on judicial cooperation — having taken effect in February.
On Saturday, Taiwan took delivery of 400,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine donated by Poland.
The vaccine made Poland Taiwan’s third-largest vaccine donor, after the US and Japan.
Poland said that it was given 1 million masks, 5,000 protective suits and 20,000 surgical gowns by Taiwan last year after the COVID-19 pandemic spread worldwide.
The European country said that it made the vaccine donation to return the favor and to help Taiwan boost its vaccination rate.
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims