Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Wednesday vowed deeper cooperation with Somaliland to help overcome the shared predicament of international isolation.
Speaking on Wednesday during a meeting with Somaliland Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Essa Kayd at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wu said that the two countries have an exclusive understanding of what it is like to be largely unrecognized by the majority of the world’s countries and intergovernmental organizations.
“This is why Taiwan will continue to support Somaliland’s ongoing democratic construction and promote bilateral cooperation, particularly in areas such as energy, telecommunications, agriculture and medicine,” Wu told Kayd, who is leading a ministerial delegation to Taiwan.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs via CNA
Wu also proposed closer economic, trade, talent and capacity-building exchanges, a ministry statement said.
Kayd expressed gratitude to Taiwan’s private and public sectors for offering assistance to his country in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said that Taiwan is an important partner of Somaliland and that both share democratic values, such as freedom and human rights.
Kayd said Somaliland’s determination in strengthening relations with Taiwan would not change “despite external pressure,” a reference to coercion from Somalia and China.
Relations between Taiwan and Somaliland have warmed over the years, with Taipei opening a representative office in the capital Hargeisa on Aug. 17, 2020, and Somaliland opening a reciprocal office in Taipei the following month on Sept. 9.
Taiwan has diplomatic relations with only 14 countries. Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 after years of conflict, does not have formal ties with any states.
This is a result of China and Somalia holding claims over the self-ruled territories.
Taiwan and Somaliland have circumvented these obstacles by opening representative offices instead of embassies in a number of countries.
Despite warming relations, a ministry official would not give a direct answer yesterday when asked if Taiwan is considering establishing official diplomatic relations with Somaliland.
Department of West Asian and African Affairs Deputy Director Wu Cheng-wei (吳正偉) said that Taiwan would continue to enhance relations with Somaliland on all fronts.
The delegation is scheduled to depart on Saturday.
Aside from meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and other senior government officials, the delegation is also to meet with local business representatives, including state-run oil supplier CPC Corp, Taiwan, to exchange views and discuss deepening bilateral cooperation, the ministry said.
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
RSS