President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday welcomed Burkina Faso Interim Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida and said that the friendship between the two countries was stable.
Ma met a delegation led by Zida at the Presidential Office and described Zida as a solid friend of the Republic of China (ROC).
Burkina Faso is one of 22 countries that maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Ma spoke of the bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the fields of agriculture, healthcare and renewable energy. He also mentioned Taiwan’s “Lighting Up Africa” relief program being carried out in the west African country.
Ma said Taiwan plans to donate 145,000 solar lamps to 916 rural schools in Burkina Faso over four years under the program, and as of May 31, 126,000 lamps, or 87 percent of the planned total, had been delivered.
Earlier in the day, Zida and the delegation visited Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) at the Executive Yuan.
During the meeting, Mao said that bilateral relations were close and friendly, and he thanked the African ally for its constant support for the ROC in the international community.
Mao said Zida is very familiar with Taiwan’s economic development and its cooperative links with Burkina Faso.
Zida was named prime minister and defense minister of the interim government after former Burkinabe president Blaise Compaore was ousted from power by a popular youth upheaval in October last year. The interim prime minister had visited Taiwan four times before his current visit.
The 18-member Burkinabe delegation arrived in Taiwan on Monday for a five-day visit at the invitation of the Taiwanese government.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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