A Taiwanese conscript previously under investigation for allegedly burning a Nauru national flag after the countries cut diplomatic ties in January has safely returned to Taiwan on Saturday, meaning all Taiwanese nationals have now returned from the Pacific island nation.
The unnamed conscript, previously on an alternative military service in Taiwan’s diplomatic corps in Nauru, was accompanied home by a Taiwanese diplomat on Saturday morning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday said in a statement.
The conscript was accused of burning a Nauru national flag while he and other embassy staffers were destroying sensitive official documents after diplomatic relations were ended on Jan. 15, the ministry said.
Photo: AP)
He was then asked to stay in Nauru, as local police investigated the allegation, the statement said.
The ministry hired a lawyer to assist the conscript and ensure that his legal rights were protected, it said, adding that the conscript remained free and was allowed to communicate with the outside world without restrictions.
Given that legal proceedings recently concluded, the conscript was permitted to leave Nauru, it said.
He was one of three conscripts doing alternative military service in Nauru and part of the 15 Taiwanese diplomats, technical staffers and family members who were in the Pacific country when both governments ended official relations.
In Taiwan, men have to undergo a compulsory military service. However, they can enter into a lottery draw to do alternative service instead, which includes serving in Taiwan’s diplomatic corps abroad.
There are no more Taiwanese expatriates or businesspeople in Nauru, so the conscript’s homecoming means that all Taiwanese have now left the territory of the former ally, the ministry said.
The severing of ties between Taiwan and Nauru came two days after Vice President William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party was elected president. It left the nation with only 12 remaining diplomatic allies.
Nauru was also the 10th diplomatic ally Taipei lost to Beijing since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in May 2016, amid deteriorating cross-strait relations.
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