DIPLOMACY
Ambassador appointed
Paraguay has appointed a new ambassador after leaving the position vacant for more than a year, with the new envoy expected to take up the post in Taipei in the coming weeks, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday. Carlos Jose Fleitas Rodriguez was named as the South American ally’s ambassador late last month, Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Director-General Florencia Hsie (謝妙宏) said. The seasoned diplomat has close ties with Taiwan, having previously served as the minister at Paraguay’s embassy in Taiwan in 2010 and then as its charge d’affaires in June 2012. He also received a master’s degree in social sciences from Tamkang University in 2017, Hsie said. His most recent posting has been as consul in Curitiba, Brazil, where he has served since June 2018.
NATIONAL DEFENSE
Military monitoring PRC
The military yesterday said it had a clear grasp of the activities of nearby Chinese forces a day after the Japan Self-Defense Force said that China’s navy had deployed an aircraft carrier battle group in the Pacific Ocean. Military spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) said the military closely monitors Chinese maneuvers in the waters and airspace around Taiwan, and would take “appropriate response measures,” without elaborating. The Japan Self-Defense Force’s Joint Staff Office on Monday announced that the Liaoning aircraft carrier and seven destroyers and supply vessels had left the East China Sea and passed through waters between Japan’s Okinawa and Miyako islands before entering the Pacific Ocean. Warships in the battle group included the Type 055 large destroyer Nanchang, the Type 052D destroyer Chengdu and the Type 901 comprehensive supply ship Hulunhu, among others, the forces said. Local media reported that the battle group is expected to hold exercises in waters east of Taiwan.
FOREIGN AID
Funds donated to refugees
Representative to Slovakia Lee Nan-yang (李南陽) on Monday signed an accord with non-governmental organization Ukrainian-Slovak Initiative, committing Taiwan to donate US$150,000 in aid for Ukrainian refugee children in Slovakia. The funds would be used to help set up a kindergarten for children who fled to Slovakia after Russia invaded their nation on Feb. 24. Apart from the donation, Lee, on behalf of the government, also asked the organization to transfer an additional US$60,000 to Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa, which has been shelled by Russia. Ludmila Verbicka, head of the initiative, said that Taiwan’s timely assistance had given hope to Ukrainian children and women forced to leave their homes, and offered her thanks in Chinese.
POLITICS
Eric Chu to visit the US
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) is to visit the US next month to meet with US officials and experts, and discuss Taiwan-US ties, cross-strait relations and Taiwan’s defense capabilities, a KMT official said yesterday. Chu is to leave Taiwan on June 1 and make stops in Washington, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles during the 12-day trip, KMT Department of International Affairs director Alexander Huang (黃介正) said in a radio interview. He is to meet with officials from the White House, the National Security Council, and the departments of state and defense, and would also attend a plaque-unveiling ceremony to reopen the KMT’s liaison office in Washington after a hiatus of more than 13 years, said Huang, who is to head the office.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
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