Messages of condolences and offers of assistance continue to pour in from abroad in the wake of Typhoon Morakot, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
In a press release, the ministry quoted Mike Coleman, head of the Salvation Army Taiwan Region, as saying the Christian charity was ready to help with long-term reconstruction efforts in storm-ravaged areas.
The London headquarters of the Salvation Army will send three disaster relief experts to assess what assistance is needed, the release said.
Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter, New York Governor David Paterson and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg all expressed their deepest sympathy, MOFA said.
HEARTFELT DONATION
While Taiwan has received millions of dollars in aid from foreign countries, the story of a US$120 donation from a tribe in the Solomon Islands has attracted attention.
The Chinese-language United Daily News reported yesterday that a Solomon Islander employed at Taiwan’s technical assistance mission in the Solomon Islands learned of the disaster on a visit to Taiwan this week.
He phoned his father, Stanley Tapeva, the head of a tribe in Isabel Province, to inform him of the disaster.
Tapeva held a tribal meeting to raise money. Two hundred families in his tribe donated a total of 1,000 Solomon Islands dollars (US$120).
The same afternoon, Tapeva made a five-hour boat trip to deliver the money to the Taiwan Technical Mission in Honiara, capital of the Solomon Islands, which is an ally of Taiwan.
Tapeva handed the money to the head of the Taiwan mission, saying he did not want to make the donation through the Solomon Islands government lest it be embezzled.
HOUSING OFFER
He gave a letter to Hung expressing the tribe’s condolences.
“Taiwan used to help us, now it’s our turn to help them. If the typhoon survivors have no place to live, they are welcome to come and live in our homes,” Tapeva said with tears in his eyes.
In related developments, a fundraising bazaar will be held today and tomorrow in Taipei to help storm-stricken families, MOFA said.
The bazaar is being organized by the the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China and Huashan 1914 Creative Park, with the support of Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund and diplomatic corps.
The bazaar, which will be held at Huashan Creative Park, will feature exotic souvenirs and arts and crafts donated by Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and other countries, as well as clothes, accessories, toys and household goods.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
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
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
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