The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed gratitude to the Slovakian parliament for its support of Taiwan’s participation in the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer.
The Slovakian parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and Health Committee each passed a resolution affirming Taiwan’s effort against the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting Taipei’s observer status at the 75th WHA — the decisionmaking body of the WHO — that is to take place from May 22 to 28.
Taiwan attended annual WHA meetings as an observer from 2009 to 2016, when relations between Taipei and Beijing were better under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government. Since 2017, the WHO has refused to invite Taiwan to the assembly due to opposition from China.
Photo: Reuters
Separately, the government has pledged to donate US$500,000 to Somaliland to help the victims of a massive fire that ripped through the country’s biggest market early this month, the ministry said yesterday.
The fire at the Waheen market, a major trade and financial hub, on April 1 has cost Somaliland about US$2 billion, or 60 percent of the country’s GDP, al-Jazeera reported.
The blaze has affected the livelihoods of thousands of people, and the ministry pledged to offer emergency humanitarian assistance to those affected, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said.
Photo: AFP
The Somaliland government expressed its gratitude for the donation and said it would arrange a public ceremony at which the funds would be officially handed over, Ou said.
The government would also work with other like-minded countries to help Somaliland rebuild the market, she said.
The Somaliland government has said that 1,000 shops, and 4,200 stalls and tables at the market were destroyed in the fire, affecting more than 17,000 people who directly relied on the market for their livelihood.
Twenty-seven people were hospitalized with severe injuries.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 after years of conflict. It has offices in about a dozen countries, according to its foreign ministry’s Web site, but does not have formal diplomatic relations with any nation.
Relations between Taiwan and Somaliland have warmed over the years, with Taipei opening a representative office in Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, on Aug. 17, 2020, and Somaliland authorities opening a reciprocal office in Taipei on Sept. 9 of the same year.
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,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
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