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.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
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