Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) left for a secret visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday to extend condolences on the death of the country's vice president and prime minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) confirmed yesterday.
Unusual
Chen's visit was unusual due to the absence of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and the UAE. The foreign minister paid several visits to the UAE last year to discuss an ongoing project to open a new representative office in Abu Dhabi, the UAE's capital.
Currently, Taipei maintains a commercial office in Dubai.
Quiet departure
A foreign ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Chen left for the UAE on Thursday afternoon, one day after the UAE's prime minister Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al-Maktoum died.
In addition to offering condolences on the death of the prime minister, Chen also relayed congratulations to General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the younger brother of the late Sheikh Maktoum.
Sheikh Mohammed will succeed his brother, taking over as ruler of the Gulf Arab Emirate of Dubai, vice president and prime minister.
The official said Chen's visit was a good opportunity for Taiwan to strengthen ties with the small oil-rich Middle Eastern country.
Chen earlier said one of the foreign ministry's ongoing projects is to re-develop ties with countries in the Middle East.
Taiwan lost diplomatic relations with Middle Eastern countries in the 1970s when its representation in the UN was replaced by China.
Earlier breakthrough
A major breakthrough in relations with Middle Eastern nations came when Chen visited the UAE in April.
Following that trip, the director of Taiwan's Chinese Petroleum Corporation, Kuo Chin-tsai (郭進財), visited the UAE in May and signed a letter of intent with the local petroleum companies for a mutual cooperation project.
In September, President Chen Shui-bian (
Mark Chen is scheduled to return to Taiwan Monday afternoon.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RSS