The Marshall Islands yesterday thanked Taiwan for training local physicians and hoped to deepen exchanges in foreign affairs and tackling climate change.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and Marshall Islands Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Kitlang Kabua, who is leading a delegation on a trip to Taiwan, on Thursday signed an agreement on diplomatic personnel training, exchanges and cooperation.
The two ministers also signed a memorandum of understanding for a joint fund to tackle climate change, which was set up by the two countries when Marshall Islands President David Kabua visited Taiwan in March last year.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs via CNA
Combating climate change is one of the most urgent and important national development policies of the Marshall Islands, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Under the memorandum of understanding, Taiwan would help the Pacific ally establish a resilient system to adapt to climate change by deepening exchanges and cooperation in green energy, infrastructure, disaster prevention and warning systems, and personnel training, it added.
The delegation’s visit, Kabua’s first to Taiwan as minister, marks the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Wu and Kabua shared fruitful outcomes of cooperative projects between Taiwan and the Marshall Islands on food security, sustainable energy, healthcare and women’s empowerment, the statement said.
Kabua expressed gratitude to Taiwan for launching cooperative programs and helping the country’s development, adding that the Marshall Islands cherishes its friendship with Taiwan dearly and would continue to support Taiwan’s international participation.
Taiwan has assisted the Pacific ally in training eight local physicians, which significantly improved the medical care standards in the country, she said.
A Taiwanese technical mission promoted cooperation models in agriculture to great success thanks to Taiwan’s impressive research and development capabilities, she said, adding that she hoped the two sides would continue to deepen cooperation in clean energy and other fields.
Kabua and her delegation later attended a banquet hosted by Wu.
During their trip until Tuesday next week, they are also to visit the Marshall Islands’ embassy in Taipei and meet with Marshall Islands students in Taiwan.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over