FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Wu to attend Esper talks
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) is to hold an online meeting with former US secretary of defense Mark Esper on Wednesday next week to discuss the growing threat China poses in the Indo-Pacific region, the McCain Institute for International Leadership has said. The meeting, scheduled at midnight, would be the sixth of a series of public talks between Esper and a policy expert on issues related to US national security, said the Washington-based think tank, which is organizing the event. A main focus of the series is Indo-Pacific security partnerships and challenges such as increasing international authoritarianism and the spread of disinformation. Esper served as secretary of defense under former US president Donald Trump from July 2019 to November 2020. He is a distinguished fellow at the McCain institute.
EDUCATION
Additional students can enter
Taiwan is on March 1 to begin allowing the entry of international language students who do not receive Huayu Enrichment Scholarships, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said on Tuesday, adding that about 5,000 students without scholarships are expected to arrive by June 30. Schools that offer Chinese-language courses of six months or longer can submit entry permit applications for their prospective students, he said. The start date was chosen to avoid the Lunar New Year holiday to ensure enough quarantine hotel capacity, Pan said. International language students without an Alien Residency Certificate (ARC) have not been allowed to enter Taiwan since it imposed restrictions on foreign travelers in March 2020, amid the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Taiwan in August last year began to grant entry to international students who are granted ministry scholarships, but do not have an ARC. Separately, the ministry on Monday said that about 1,000 foreign teachers hired by schools for the ongoing school year ending June 30 can apply for a special visa to enter the nation. Students and teachers would have to quarantine for 14 days upon entering Taiwan, observe another seven days of self-health management and frequently get tested for COVID-19 during the 21-day period, the ministry said.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Taiwanese to stay in Ukraine
Twenty-eight Taiwanese have chosen to remain in Ukraine despite the government urging them to leave, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday. Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said that 34 Taiwanese residents of Ukraine have since Saturday been contacted. Six have left the country amid Western governments warning of an imminent Russian invasion, while nine have relocated to the western city of Lviv, close to the border with Poland, Ou said. Although the government respects the decision of those who wish to stay, the ministry, through its representative office in Moscow, is providing them with the latest updates, Ou said. Taiwan is among 31 countries that asked their citizens to leave Ukraine, the ministry said. In the event of an emergency, Taiwanese in Ukraine can call +7-969-008-6111 to seek assistance from the Moscow office, it said. They can also contact the Taiwan Trade Center in Kiev, which is run by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, at +380-44-537-0982, it added.
Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said Saturday that she would not be intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), following reports that Chinese agents planned to ram her car during a visit to the Czech Republic last year. "I had a great visit to Prague & thank the Czech authorities for their hospitality & ensuring my safety," Hsiao said on social media platform X. "The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community," she wrote. Hsiao visited the Czech Republic on March 18 last year as vice president-elect and met with Czech Senate leadership, including
Many Chinese spouses required to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration have either completed the process or provided affidavits ahead of the June 30 deadline, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Of the 12,146 people required to submit the proof, 5,534 had done so as of Wednesday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. Another 2,572 people who met conditions for exemption or deferral from submitting proof of deregistration — such as those with serious illnesses or injuries — have submitted affidavits instead, he said. “As long as individuals are willing to cooperate with the legal
There have been clear signs of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempts to interfere in the nationwide recall vote on July 26 in support of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators facing recall, an unnamed government official said, warning about possible further actions. The CCP is actively involved in Taiwanese politics, and interference in the recall vote is to be expected, with multiple Chinese state media and TAO attempts to discredit the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and undermine public support of their recall movement, the official said. This interference includes a smear campaign initiated this month by a pro-Beijing Hong Kong news outlet against
A week-long exhibition on modern Tibetan history and the Dalai Lama’s global advocacy opened yesterday in Taipei, featuring quotes and artworks highlighting human rights and China’s ongoing repression of Tibetans, Hong Kongers and Uighurs. The exhibition, the first organized by the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan (HRNTT), is titled “From the Snowy Ridges to the Ocean of Wisdom.” “It would be impossible for Tibetans inside Tibet to hold an exhibition like this — we can do it. because we live in a free and democratic country,” HRNTT secretary-general Tashi Tsering said. Tashi Tsering, a Taiwan-based Tibetan who has never
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