The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday conceded that it is considering writing off some of Nicaragua's debts, but denied speculation that Nicaragua made the demand in exchange for keeping diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
"We are considering it from the humanitarian point of view, but it has not been decided yet. It is international consensus to help needy countries," Foreign Ministry Spokesman David Wang (
Wang was responding to a Chinese-language newspaper report said Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Samuel Santos had mentioned the request to reporters on Friday after conferring a medal on the nation's ambassador to Nicaragua, Hung Ming-ta (洪明達).
Nicaragua wants Taiwan to write off the debts in exchange for Managua's maintaining ties with Taiwan, the China Times said.
The newspaper said that Nicaragua owes Taiwan US$160 million, and that the total debt would be higher if Taipei's loans to Nicaragua extended through the Central American Integration System were also taken into account.
On Thursday, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said that his government was waiting for Taiwan's decision regarding Managua's request for electricity-generation equipment.
The China Times quoted Ortega as saying there would be no change in bilateral ties if the equipment is delivered and put into operation in October, in an apparent allusion to Nicaragua's conditions for continued diplomatic recognition of the nation.
Since Costa Rica switched recognition from Taiwan to China on June 1, reports have speculated that Nicaragua also plans to break ties with Taiwan and recognize China.
But Santos has denied the reports, saying that his country treasured its friendship with Taiwan.
Nicaragua recognized Beijing in 1985 after Ortega's first election. However, former president Violeta Chamorro broke with Beijing and re-established ties with Taiwan after defeating Ortega in 1990.
Before winning the most recent presidential election, Ortega had said that if he won, he would switch recognition from Taiwan to China to meet the needs of the Nicaraguan business sector.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
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