Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr on Tuesday said that Taiwanese “deserve to have a voice” at the UN and encouraged Taiwanese private enterprises to invest in Palau.
Whipps, who has clinched another term in office, said in a video interview with the Central News Agency that he felt Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, including the UN, “can only make the world a better place.”
“The 23 million people in Taiwan deserve to have a voice,” he said.
Photo: CNA
Whipps also talked about his “strong relationship” with President William Lai (賴清德), Chinese economic pressure and Palau’s relationship with the US.
“We want Taiwanese investment in Palau,” Whipps said, adding that he attended the World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce (WTCC) annual meeting and met Lai in Kaohsiung in September.
“We look at Palau as a small island with potential in certain sectors,” said the Palauan president, who has led the island nation since 2021.
“And we want to partner with our friends from Taiwan, especially Taiwanese businesses, that want to come and ... look at those opportunities,” he added.
Noting that Lai had visited Palau as vice president, Whipps said he expected to have another conversation with Taiwan’s leader soon.
“I swam with him, so I know him very well,” Whipps said of Lai. “He took me shrimp farming when I went to his inauguration. So we’re looking forward to conversing and continuing to build on the strong relationship.”
Asked about recent Chinese economic pressure on his country, Whipps said that Palau had been “working hard” to diversify its economy to ensure “economic resilience” amid a decline in the number of Chinese tourists orchestrated by Beijing.
“Palau is a sovereign country, and we have a right to choose who our friends are,” Whipps said, citing the fact that Taiwan is self-governing and has the “same values” as reasons why Palau has chosen to maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Palau is one of 12 countries worldwide that maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Whipps, who won a second four-year term as president in an election held on Tuesday last week, said he had not received “any message” from Beijing since then.
“I can tell you that before the election, there was a Chinese vessel within our EEZ,” Whipps said, referring to the exclusive economic zone specified in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“As of today, there’s another one that’s in our EEZ. That’s a research vessel that shouldn’t be in our EEZ, because they need permission. So that’s the only communication I had with China,” he added.
Speaking about US president-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election on Tuesday last week, the same day as Palau’s election, Whipps said Palau’s relationship with Washington “remains firm.”
Both Democrats and Republicans “understand the importance of Pacific relations,” he said, while expressing an interest in opening a dialogue with Trump to address climate change.
He also applauded US businessman Elon Musk’s “incredible work,” especially in the field of electric vehicles, which he said was the kind of technology needed to “help solve our climate problems.”
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS