Diplomatic ties with the Dominican Republic have stabilized following a series of two-way high level official visits over the past month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Fielding questions during an Oct. 18 legislative hearing, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) said the ministry had sought to stabilize relations for some time amid warnings that the Caribbean ally could be moving closer to Beijing.
At the hearing, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) pointed to signs that the Dominican Republic could switch its allegiance from Taipei to Beijing.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Lee visited the Caribbean ally in July and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Maria Liu (劉德立) went there in August and late last month to further strengthen ties, he said at the hearing.
Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs head Diego Chou (周麟) yesterday said that ties have stabilized after Liu’s visits.
“During the last trip, Liu confirmed several bilateral cooperation projects and representatives from both sides were pleased with bilateral developments,” Chou said.
Following Liu’s last visit, Dominican Minister of Defense Lieutenant General Ruben Dario Paulino Sem met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at the Presidential Office Building on Oct. 23, indicating that the reported crisis has been solved and bilateral ties stabilized, he added.
Chou said that the ministry and the embassy in the Dominican Republic had indeed heard rumors that Beijing was offering the ally “billions of US dollars” to ditch Taiwan in favor of China.
However, Chou said these were just rumors rather than concrete proposals, as Beijing sought to appeal to Dominican officials who are unfamiliar with such practices.
Chou also said that Taiwan donated a number of decommissioned Humvees and military helicopters to the Dominican Republic when Minister of National Defense Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) visited on Oct. 27.
“The military made the donation as humanitarian assistance and a gesture of goodwill,” he said.
However, local media have questioned the decision, saying it was a waste of money and that it undermines Taiwan’s defense capabilities.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
RSS