Taiwan’s state-owned Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China (中國輸出入銀行) is to reduce a more than 20-year-old debt owed by Niger of US$183 million to US$20 million under an agreement announced by a senior government official on Friday.
Faced with mounting financial difficulties, the west African nation — which established diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1992 — took out two loans with the bank for a total of US$60 million before breaking off relations again in 1996 and formally recognizing Beijing.
After the government failed to begin payments on the debt, the bank pursued the case in a US court and won a decision in 1998 that ordered Niger to pay US$76 million.
“The Nigerien state never responded to any order to pay. The interest rate increased and in 2015 the state of Niger found itself with a bill of US$183 million,” Gandou Zakara, the Nigerien government’s secretary-general, said.
Under the deal, Niger immediately paid US$5 million. The remaining US$15 million is to be paid over a period of 20 years at an interest rate of 1.75 percent.
“The signature of this agreement puts an end to the litigation between the Republic of Niger and Taiwan,” Zakara said.
Niger is among a number of African nations that have in the past played upon and benefited from both Taiwan and China’s desire to win diplomatic allies on the continent.
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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