Former Nicaraguan ambassador to Taiwan Mirna Rivera twice refused to meet with Taiwanese officials before the Central American nation cut diplomatic ties, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that all Taiwanese officials are to exit Nicaragua by tomorrow.
Since Nicaragua switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing on Dec. 9, some commentators have accused Taipei of failing to comprehend what was about to happen.
However, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news briefing in Taipei that the ministry had understood related information.
Photo: Weng Yu-huang, Taipei Times
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui (俞大?) on Dec. 3 summoned Rivera and expressed the nation’s serious concerns about bilateral ties, she said.
The ministry summoned Rivera two more times, but she refused to meet based on some pretext, she added.
In 2018, Rivera, 25, graduated from Ming Chuan University in Taipei on a foreign student scholarship from the ministry. She served as a counselor at Nicaragua’s permanent mission to the UN before becoming Nicaragua’s ambassador to Taiwan in October last year.
Ou said that the ministry’s preparations for closing the embassy in Managua are nearly complete.
Former ambassador to Nicaragua Ivan Lee (李岳融) has returned to Taiwan, while other embassy officials and technical mission personnel are to leave Nicaragua by tomorrow, she added.
Lee had only last month assumed his role in Nicaragua.
After severing diplomatic ties, countries customarily take at least one month to recall personnel, a diplomatic source said.
Given two weeks’ notice, Taiwan had little time to close the embassy and the technical mission, and for staff to depart, the source told the Central News Agency.
Based on the principle of reciprocity, Taipei gave the staff of the Nicaraguan embassy in Taiwan the same amount of time to exit the country, Ou said.
At the embassy in Managua, 52 people — Taiwanese staff members and their families — are readying to leave Nicaragua.
More information about the disposal of the embassy building, which is owned by the ministry, would be shared after it happens and officials have returned home, Ou said.
Since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in 2016, Taiwan has lost eight diplomatic allies.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS