The Marshall Islands and Taiwan will enjoy a strong friendship for many decades to come, the leader of the Pacific island country said on Tuesday, touting the close relationship between the nations since the establishment of diplomatic ties 10 years ago.
Marshal Islands President Litokwa Tomeing, visiting Taiwan for the first time as the president, affirmed that Taiwan-Marshall Islands relations remain firm.
"Taiwan has made many valuable and practical contributions to the people of the Marshall Islands. The relations between the two nations will only grow stronger for the next decade or more," he said in an interview with the Taipei Times.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN HUEI, TAIWAN TIMES
Ties were called in question late last year when Tomeing won the seat after staunch pro-China rhetoric during his campaign.
The former speaker was quoted last November as saying the Marshall Islands had "wronged China" by recognizing Taiwan in 1998 and that he planned to adopt a "one China" policy once in office.
Taiwan quickly reacted by accusing Beijing of injecting large sums of money to sway the election.
But so far both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Majuro have stressed that relations between the two countries are stable.
The relationship was further buttressed in January when Vice President Annette Lu (
Since establishing relations with the country in 1998, Taiwan has become Majuro's second largest donor -- behind the US -- by providing an annual financial package of US$10 million.
Taiwan also provides humanitarian assistance in the form of medical and agricultural missions.
When asked how he plans to strike a balance between the pro-China and pro-Taiwan voices in his government, he simply said that the Marshall Islands has an "open-door policy" to welcome all those who seek the country's friendship.
"The country has no enemies," Tomeing said.
He added that he believes cross-strait problems should remain solely between Taiwan and China.
"We support Taiwan because it is a democratic country. The Republic of the Marshall Islands government has confidence that the two countries will reach a mutual understanding," he said, adding that "only time can tell" when and how the issue will be resolved.
Tomeing said he believed that Taiwan could increase its pool of friends in the Pacific by continuing to display its goodwill.
"So long as Taiwan continues to demonstrate its strength in terms of goodwill toward Pacific allies, the world will see its friendly gesture," he said.
"Eventually, the nations that are not in Taiwan's corner will see the advantage of recognizing Taiwan as an independent country," he said.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS