Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week.
Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources.
The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report.
Photo: screen grab from the Presidential Office’s Flickr page
The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same day that it opposes any official contact between Taiwan and Costa Rica.
Taiwan severed official diplomatic relations with Costa Rica in June 2007, ending 66 years of ties, after San Jose switched recognition to the People’s Republic of China.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) yesterday said the ministry could not comment on the report, as it has no information about the reported training program.
The National Security Bureau said in a statement that as the nation’s top intelligence agency, “it is its responsibility to promote international intelligence exchange and cooperation.”
However, the bureau added that it never “comments on individual cases” and therefore would not comment on the report.
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) had yet to provide an official response as of press time last night.
La Nacion’s report did not specify the name of the program the officials undertook in Taiwan.
The ministry has since 1971 offered the “Foreign Friends Course” to train officials from its Latin American allies and friendly Spanish-speaking countries.
The program was expanded in July 1995 with the participation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and renamed the “Foreign Friends National Development Course,” the MND’s Web site says.
In 2017, then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received a group of participants to the program, which consists of a series of international training courses.
Among the participants in the program over the past 46 years, five became their countries’ leader and more than 80 served as Cabinet members, Tsai said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
RSS