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.
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
RSS