Taiwan’s embassy in Port-au-Prince would continue to work with the new government as it seeks to restore order after months of gang-related violence, while maintaining Taiwan-Haiti ties, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council, created in April to re-establish democratic order in the nation, signed a decree on Nov. 10 to fire then-interim Haitian prime minister Garry Conille after five months, replacing him with Alix Didier Fils-Aime, a businessman who was previously considered for the job, The Associated Press reported on Monday last week.
Council chairman Leslie Voltaire and Fils-Aime on Saturday inaugurated Haiti’s reshuffled government at Villa d’Accueil in Musseau.
Photo: AFP
The new Cabinet comprises 18 ministers, signaling a new chapter in the transition after the firing of Conille as the country grapples with mounting insecurity and political instability, the online newspaper Haitian Times reported on Monday.
In Taipei, Cheng Li-cheng (鄭力城), head of the ministry’s Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Department, confirmed that Fils-Aime was named the new prime minister on Monday last week and that his Cabinet was inaugurated on Saturday.
Ambassador to Haiti Hu Cheng-hao (胡正浩) was invited to the inauguration event, where he expressed the government’s willingness to deepen bilateral cooperation with the new administration, Cheng said.
The ambassador also expressed that Taiwan’s embassy would continue to cooperate with the new government to assist it in the country’s transition process and to maintain its friendship with Haiti, he said.
Regarding security issues in the Caribbean country, Cheng said local gang violence in the Solino neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, the capital, has forced many residents to flee the area in the past few days.
The US Federal Aviation Administration has since Tuesday last week banned US flights to Haiti for 30 days after gangs shot at three planes, he added.
Taiwan’s embassy in Haiti is still open, and consular employees and their family members, as well as Taiwanese in Haiti are safe, Cheng said, adding that the embassy continues to keep close contact with Haiti’s police and armed forces, other countries embassies in the nation and the foreign ministry.
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
ENHANCING DETERRENCE: Stationing the missiles in Kyushu would allow Japan to cover waters near Taiwan and China’s coastal areas without any logistical difficulties Japan is to deploy extended-range anti-ship missiles at a Ground Self-Defense Force base in Kumamoto to bolster its defenses, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Saturday. The upgraded Type 12 surface-to-ship missile, with a range of more than 1,000km, would be capable of striking targets in the Taiwan Strait and along China’s coast. Originally limited to a few hundred kilometers, the Type 12 was recently modernized ahead of schedule. Deployment, initially slated for next year, has been accelerated after the upgrade was completed sooner than expected, the newspaper said. Stationing the missiles in Kyushu would allow Japan to cover waters near Taiwan and
The presence of Taiwanese politicians at China’s military parade tomorrow would send the wrong message to Beijing and the international community about Taiwan’s sovereignty and democracy, a national security official said yesterday. China is to hold the parade tomorrow to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. By bringing together leaders of “anti-West” governments such as Russia, North Korea, Iran and Belarus, the parade aims to project a symbolic image of an alliance that is cohesive and unbending against Western countries, the national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu
RSS