Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roy Lee (李淳) on Friday defended the government’s choice to evacuate citizens from Israel, saying that the decision is left up to officials on the ground to decide based on the latest information.
Speaking to legislators during a question-and-answer session, Lee said that a flight evacuating Taiwanese from Israel is to depart at “around” 5pm on Friday Taipei time, with the exact time remaining confidential for security reasons.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday announced the flight departing from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv with an initial stopover in Fiumicino International Airport in Rome.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
When asked by legislators the day before about the possibility of evacuating the 147 Taiwanese remaining in Israel, the ministry said there was currently no plan to do so.
Questioned about the change of heart on Friday, Lee said the decision was made by front-line diplomats.
Due to changes in the security situation in the Gaza Strip over the past three days and conversations with Taiwanese expats, the local office decided to charter an evacuation flight, he said.
Asked if the ministry was to raise its travel warning for Israel from orange to red, Lee said that most of the nation’s global peers are keeping their alerts on orange, which advises against nonessential travel.
Evacuations may be made under both orange and red alerts, he added.
Alerts for the West Bank and Gaza Strip remain at red.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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