Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday injected a further 70 million yuan (US$11.4 million) of aid money into Fiji as he wrapped up a round of talks in the Pacific nation aimed at strengthening ties in the region.
In a stopover following the G20 summit in Australia, Xi held talks with Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and seven other island nation leaders who form the nucleus of a 12-nation Pacific voting bloc in the UN.
“I hope my visit can open a new chapter in bilateral friendly and cooperative relations,” Xi told the leaders of Samoa, Vanuatu, Niue, Tonga, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea.
Photo: AFP
The talks also involved signing memoranda of understanding on a range of issues, including climate change, with several island nations under threat from rising sea levels.
Fijian Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Amena Yauvoli confirmed the aid grant and told the Fiji Times that it was “an additional 70 million yuan to the 80 million yuan that was offered in August. So in total, this is about 50 million Fijian dollars [US$25.5 million] in grant and aid.”
Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said following his talks with Xi that it was important for the region to stay connected to the Asian powerhouse.
“China is a very important global player in terms of not only trade and investment, but in security and many other related issues and climate change,” O’Neill told reporters. “I think it is important that we engage meaningfully with China on many of those issues.”
Bainimarama said Fiji, which in 1975 became the first Pacific island nation to establish diplomatic ties with China, wanted Beijing to be fully engaged in the region.
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who also visited Fiji after the G20 in an attempt to build ties with the region, blogged on his official Web site on Friday about the importance of the Pacific to India.
He added, about his address to the Fijian and Australian parliaments during his trip: “There is no bond that is stronger than a bond between two democracies.”
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS