The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday it was closely monitoring the upcoming presidential elections in Paraguay and the Dominican Republic, two of the nation’s diplomatic allies in South America and the Caribbean, especially as one of the candidates in Paraguay is known to be pro-China.
Paraguay and the Dominican Republic will hold their presidential elections on Sunday and May 16 respectively.
Simon Ko (柯森耀), director-general of the ministry’s Central and South American Affairs, said at a regular press briefing that among the four candidates in Paraguay, the front-runners were former Catholic Bishop Fernando Lugo of the opposition Patriotic Alliance for Change, retired army general Lino Oviedo of the opposition National Union of Ethical Citizens and Blanca Ovelar of the ruling National Republican Association — Colorado Party.
Former education minister Ovelar is seeking to become the first female leader in Paraguay. The center-right Colorado Party has been in power in the South American country for more than six decades, but the party is facing a big challenge in Sunday’s election.
LEAD
The latest poll in Paraguay showed that Lugo was leading with 34.5 percent of the projected vote, followed by Oviedo with 28.9 percent and Ovelar with 28.5 percent.
Ko said Lugo had said during his campaign that he would like to establish relations with China if elected, giving rise to speculation on whether Taiwan would lose its only ally in South America.
The outcome of the presidential race in the Dominican Republic appeared to be more certain.
Ko said incumbent President Leonel Fernandez, who is seeking a third consecutive term with his Dominican Liberation Party, is the front-runner.
A Bloomberg report said that Fernandez had widened his lead over his closest rival to 24 percentage points, with less than two months to go before the election.
NEW GROUP
Meanwhile, the ministry announced yesterday that a Taiwan Friendship Group was for the first time established in the Russian parliament last week.
The group, Department of West Asian Affairs Deputy-Chairman Ali Yang (楊心怡) said, seeks to support technical, trade and academic relations between the two countries.
Yang said an invitation had been sent out to members of the group to attend the presidential inauguration next month, but an affirmative response had yet to be received.
Additional reporting by Jenny W. Hsu
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: As some roads would be fully or partially closed, people are advised to take the MRT, with services expanded to accommodate more riders This year’s Taipei Marathon, which has obtained its first gold label certification from World Athletics, is to be held from 5am to 1pm tomorrow and would have 28,000 participants. The race is to start from the Taipei City Plaza and would go through major roads throughout the city, with traffic control implemented from 6am to 2pm, officials said. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and New Taipei City MRT Circle line would start operating at 5am on the day of the race, they said. The race would cover Renai Road, Xinyi Road, Hangzhou S Road, Aiguo east and west roads,
Upon its completion next year, the new Tamkang Bridge (淡江大橋) in New Taipei City is to be an important landmark in Taiwan, alongside Taipei 101, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shi-kai (陳世凱) said today. The bridge is scheduled to be completed in December next year and open to the public in the first half of 2026, connecting New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里) districts. It is an asymmetric single-tower suspension bridge, nearly 70 stories tall, designed by world-famous architect Zaha Hadid. The bridge aims to alleviate traffic in Tamsui and on the Guandu Bridge (關渡大橋), in addition to increasing the
RSS