The Nicaraguan government has given the staff of Taiwan’s embassy two weeks to depart, after Managua severed diplomatic ties with Taipei on Friday last week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Wednesday.
The decision for Taiwanese staff to depart before Thursday next week was arrived at during negotiations between the two sides in the wake of the diplomatic split, and, based on the principle of reciprocity, the Taiwanese government requested that the staff of Nicaragua’s embassy in Taipei leave by the same deadline, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said.
Taiwan’s embassy in Managua is preparing to close, and staff members and their families — a total of 52 people — would depart in stages, Ou confirmed, after La Prensa newspaper in Nicaragua had reported about the departure the previous day.
Photo: Sarah Wu, Reuters
It is customary for countries to take at least a month to recall their respective personnel following a severing of diplomatic ties, a diplomatic source said.
La Prensa reported that the Nicaraguan National Assembly on Tuesday repealed a bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan, which had been signed in December 2006.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Ministry of Economic Affairs had said that the FTA would remain in effect, despite formal ties being severed.
On Wednesday, the ministry said that either side could withdraw from the FTA by giving six months’ notice, although Nicaragua had not yet notified Taiwan.
On Tuesday, Nicaraguan lawmakers also repealed seven other agreements with Taiwan, including a US$20.2 million loan signed in 1998 with the Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China to finance an irrigation project in western Nicaragua, La Prensa reported.
With the loss of Nicaragua, Taiwan has 14 diplomatic allies.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
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