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.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
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