DIPLOMACY
You leads Japan delegation
Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) yesterday led a delegation to Japan, seeking to boost trade and cultural and parliamentary ties during a five-day trip. At the invitation of the Asia Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce, the delegation is to attend its 30th anniversary celebrations in Tokyo and meet with Taiwanese businesspeople based in Japan. Sources said the delegation is seeking support from the group for Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. If Taiwan is admitted to the trade bloc, it would facilitate trade between Taiwan and regional partners, the government has said. In addition, the visit aims to promote meaningful exchanges between Taiwanese and Japanese lawmakers and bolster bilateral cooperation in areas such as trade, Indo-Pacific security, innovative technology, culture and tourism. The delegation is also planning to visit Hagi, a city in southern Honshu with historical significance due to events during the Meiji Restoration period.
DIPLOMACY
St Lucia PM arrives today
Saint Lucian Prime Minister Philip Pierre is to arrive in Taiwan today for a five-day visit during which he is planning to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Pierre is to head a delegation including Saint Lucian Minister for Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training Shawn Edward, National Insurance Corp chairman Evaristus Marie and Saint Lucia Development Bank chairman Daryl Raymond, the foreign ministry said in a news release. Pierre — who is to visit Taiwan for the first time since he took office in July last year — and his delegation are to be welcomed with a military salute, the ministry said. Taiwan and Saint Lucia first established diplomatic relations in 1984, but the ties were broken in 1997 when the Caribbean country switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing. In April 2007, Taiwan and Saint Lucia re-established diplomatic relations, and China consequently severed its ties with the latter.
HEALTH
Daily cases down 18%
Taiwan yesterday reported 13,311 new COVID-19 cases, including 35 imported cases, and 25 deaths from the disease, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said. The deceased ranged in age from their 50s to their 90s, and they all had underlying health issues, while 10 were unvaccinated against COVID-19, the CECC said. Yesterday’s case count was 18 percent lower than a week earlier, it added. New Taipei City had the most new cases, with 2,064, followed by Taichung with 1,729 and Kaohsiung with 1,708.
SOCIETY
Filipino drowns off Miaoli
A migrant worker drowned in the ocean near the Jhunan Coastal Forest Recreation Area (竹南濱海森林遊憩區) in Miaoli County yesterday morning, the Miaoli Fire Department said. The department received a report at 7:47am that a man disappeared while swimming in the sea off the recreation area. Rescuers dispatched by the department conducted a search-and-rescue mission and found the man in the water without vital signs. He was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead after efforts to revive him failed, the department said. The cause of the incident is being investigated, police said. The man has been identified as a 36-year-old worker from the Philippines, Chinese-language media reported.
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
BOOST TO SPORTS? The Executive Yuan said that the amendment was introduced to attract professionals to Taiwan, and increase the incentives for naturalization The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed on third reading an amendment to the Nationality Act (國籍法) that would reduce the minimum residency period required for highly skilled professionals to apply for naturalization from three to two continuous years, with a minimum of 183 days in Taiwan each year. The 183-day requirement does not apply if an eligible applicant has lived legally in the territory of the Republic of China for more than five continuous years. Taiwan’s professional basketball leagues are expected to benefit from the amendments, which would allow them to recruit more players from overseas. Prior to the passage of the amendment, the
Germany sent two warships to the Indo-Pacific region on Tuesday in a bid to strengthen its military presence in the region amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan and over the disputed South China Sea. Those tensions were putting pressure on the freedom of navigation and free passage on trade routes, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said at the northern German navy base in Wilhelmshaven. Some 40% of Europe’s foreign trade flows through the South China Sea. “Looking the other way, showing no presence in the Indo-Pacific in support of the international rules-based order, that’s not an option for Germany,” he told reporters before