Following the US’ lead, Australia has requested that Taiwan allow its citizens in Japan to enter the country as part of its plan to evacuate Australians from the disaster-struck country.
Taiwan has agreed to the request, presented yesterday, out of humanitarian concern, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman James Chang (章計平) said.
The Australia Commerce and Industry Office in Taiwan was unable to be reached for comment on details of the plan, such as the arrival time and the number of Australian citizens to be evacuated from Japan to Taipei.
Photo: Yao Kai-shiu, Taipei Times
Meanwhile, a second charter flight arranged by the US government with about 300 Americans on board was scheduled to arrive in Taipei at 00:45am today.
Early yesterday morning, 97 Americans arrived in Taipei, mainly families and dependents of US government employees and some US civilians.
All members of the group were tested for radiation following their arrival, but none were found to have abnormal levels of radioactivity, sources said.
Dozens of American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) employees were at the airport to help evacuees get through immigration and customs before helping them check in to hotels.
AIT spokeswoman Sheila Paskman said in a telephone interview that most of the evacuated Americans might stay in Taiwan for one or two days until they arrange flights back to the US.
There were about 190,000 Americans in Japan before the disaster struck on March 11, Paskman said.
The US Department of State on Thursday authorized the voluntary departure of family members and dependents of US personnel in Tokyo, Yokohama and Nagoya, providing charter flights to either Taipei or Seoul.
Paskman said it was not clear at the moment how many Americans would be brought to Taipei as it is arranging the charter flights day-by-day, depending on the number of people who wish to leave Japan.
The AIT suspended routine visa services for Taiwanese applicants yesterday so its visa officers could assist their compatriots at the -airport, but it is continuing the service for applicants who qualify as emergency cases.
“It remains unknown when the visa service can be resumed. It all depends on how many flights are coming to Taiwan,” Paskman said, adding that the AIT might decide a date over the weekend.
Yesterday morning, Paskman showed up at the front gate of the AIT complex, apologizing to people who were not aware of the suspension in advance.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) told lawmakers at the legislative that he had asked MOFA to help the AIT handle the entry of the Americans so that some of the AIT’s staff members could resume visa services for Taiwanese nationals.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
RSS