DIPLOMACY
Israel, Taiwan ink social pact
Taiwan and Israel have signed a joint declaration to bolster bilateral cooperation in the areas of social welfare and social services, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. It was signed on Wednesday via videoconference by representative to Israel Lee Ya-ping (李雅萍) in Tel Aviv, and Israel’s representative to Taiwan, Omer Caspi, in Taipei. The signing ceremony was presided over by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui (俞大?) and Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lee Li-feng (李麗芬) in Taipei, along with Israeli Welfare and Social Affairs Director-General Sigal Moran in Tel Aviv, it said. The declaration marks the 30th cooperation pact between Taiwan and Israel, and the fifth since 2020, the ministry said.
PHILIPPINES
Marcos congratulated on win
Taiwan yesterday sent a goodwill message to Ferdinand Marcos Jr on his victory in the Philippine presidential election, while expressing its desire to bolster ties with his country. “Congratulations to the Filipino people on the successful national elections on May 9,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said. She also congratulated president-elect Marcos on his victory, adding that Taiwan is looking forward to working with the new administration to improve cooperation. The Philippines is an important partner in Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy, and the countries have maintained productive exchanges over the years, Ou said. More than 150,000 Filipinos live in Taiwan, most of them migrant workers or immigrants married to Taiwanese, she said.
GOVERNMENT
Control Yuan VP nominated
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday nominated People First Party (PFP) Secretary-General Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) to serve as vice president of the Control Yuan. Lee’s nomination has been sent to the Legislative Yuan for review and approval, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said. Lee, 62, served five consecutive terms as a legislator, from 2002 to 2020. The Control Yuan is responsible for investigating and handling disciplinary matters regarding public servants and agencies. Lee yesterday said he was resigning as PFP secretary-general, and would quit the party and withdraw from all political activities. The post of Control Yuan vice president has been vacant since 2020, when Tsai’s nomination of Justin Huang (黃健庭), a former Taitung County commissioner from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), failed after criticism from the DPP and KMT.
JUSTICE
Dai facing 24-year term
Prosecutors on Wednesday asked for a 24-year prison sentence for independent Chiayi City Councilor Dai Ning (戴寧) over charges that she allegedly embezzled NT$5.18 million (US$173,691) from staff expenses. The Taiwan Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office said that Dai had for more than a decade personally collected government-paid salaries of four people listed as staff, but who did not work for her. Dai had access to bank accounts belonging to the four assumed staff members, and withdrew salaries and bonuses paid between June 2012 and February, prosecutors said. Dai has denied knowing anything about the scheme, saying only that her father, himself a former councilor who died not long after Dai was arrested, had been responsible for hiring her staff. Prosecutors sought the severe term given what they called a “lack of remorse” and trying to pass responsibility to her father.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard