Nepal has declined Taiwan’s offer of help with search-and-rescue efforts after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit the Himalayan country on Saturday, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrew Kao (高振群) said yesterday.
Kao’s comments came as several Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams were getting ready to leave for Nepal to help look for survivors under collapsed buildings.
Answering questions at the Legislative Yuan, Kao said that Kathmandu has only asked for assistance in search and rescue efforts from neighboring countries like China, India and Pakistan, and cited the great distance and the lack of direct flights and diplomatic relations for declining Taiwan’s offer
Photo: CNA
Taiwan would still send a team to Nepal to assess the need for medical assistance, which Taiwan stands ready to provide, he said.
According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokeswoman Anna Kao (高安), soon after the earthquake occurred, Taiwan’s representative to India, who happened to be in Kathmandu at the time, contacted Nepalese officials and told them that the Taiwanese government was willing to provide assistance.
The Nepalese government decided to first ask neighboring countries to send assistance and declined Taiwan’s offer at that time, she said, adding that Kathmandu said it would contact Taipei if it needed more help, she added.
In related news, the ministry said that as of 4:30pm yesterday, there are still 21 Taiwanese in Nepal who have not yet been accounted for.
There are a total of 204 Taiwanese tourists in Nepal, but the other 183 people have been confirmed safe, Anna Kao said in an update on Taiwan’s efforts to locate its citizens since the earthquake hit Nepal on Saturday, killing thousands.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been obtaining information from its overseas offices, from travel records, travel agencies and the relatives of Taiwan citizens who were in Nepal when the earthquake struck, she said.
She said that a group of 24 National Taiwan University alumni who had traveled to Nepal to climb the Himalayas and had been out of contact since Saturday have now told the ministry that they are all safe.
The main airport in Nepal reopened on Sunday afternoon and flights are being gradually being resumed, Anna Kao said, adding that Taiwanese in Nepal should contact their travel agencies and airlines to arrange their return flights home.
Taiwanese in need of assistance can also call the ministry’s representative office in India on the emergency number +919810502610 or the foreign ministry in Taiwan on +886800085095, she said.
The government announced on Saturday that it would donate US$300,000 to Nepal.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs added yesterday that an account has been set up by the Ministry of Health and Welfare for members of the public to make donations to the relief effort.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as