In the wake of the Gambia’s abrupt severing of diplomatic ties with Taiwan, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) how it intended to retrieve the funds the Gambia and other countries that had severed ties owed the Republic of China.
The Gambia severed diplomatic ties without prior warning on Nov 14, an act that Ambassador to the Gambia Samuel Chen (陳士良) said occurred because Taiwan had refused Gambian President Yahya Jammeh’s request for an additional US$10 million in financial aid.
According to Chen’s response during a question-and-answer session at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee, Jammeh had asked for the money in a one-time payment and expected Taiwan to comply because “we are brothers.”
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said that over the years, countries that had severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan accumulated more than US$500 million in debt.
The Gambia owes nearly US$20 million, the Republic of Senegal owes US$3.7 million, Grenada owes US$28 million, the Republic of Macedonia US$72 million, the Republic of Niger US$72 million, the Republic of Costa Rica US$290 million and the Republic of Chad US$30 million.
Tsai said that the ministry must find a way to retrieve the money or other allies would get the wrong impression and think they would not need to return financial aid provided by Taiwan after severing diplomatic ties.
In the report the ministry presented to the committee yesterday, the ministry said that Jammeh, via Gambian Vice President Isatou Njie-Saidy, told former ambassador to Gambia Richard Shih (石瑞琦) on Sunday last week that he had requested aid from Taiwan, but had not received it, making him feel that Taiwan was no longer in need of the Gambia’s support.
Jammeh was of the opinion that terminating diplomatic ties with Taiwan would be in the Gambia’s best interest, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) said.
“The Gambia had expectations we could not fulfill,” Lin said.
Lin said that the Gambia was not prompted by China to sever ties, but he added that it might have the hope that it can look to Beijing for financial assistance.
“Our current assessment is that China was not involved in the case,” Lin said.
Gambian Secretary-General and Presidential Affairs Minister Momodou Sabally told Taiwan that the Gambia would not establish diplomatic ties with China, he said.
In related news, a report by Agence Africaine de Presse on Monday last week quoted “a source close to Gambia’s Foreign Ministry” as saying that the Gambia has established ties with China and that a statement is to be made in the coming days.
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’