Taiwan does not intend to move its representative office in Israel from Tel Aviv, although it acknowledges Jerusalem as the capital, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
The ministry is keeping a close watch on developments in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s announcement on Wednesday that the US now formally recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and plans to relocate its embassy there, ministry spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) told a regular media briefing.
The ministry’s Web site lists Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, he said
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
“We acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel’s capital,” he said. “However, at present, we are not considering moving Taiwan’s representative office from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.”
Meanwhile, the ministry is calling on Israel and the Palestinian territories to settle their conflict by peaceful means and seek a mutually acceptable peace proposal that would serve the best interests of their people, Lee said.
The Palestinian National Authority has declared “three days of rage,” from Wednesday until today, during which protests are expected to be held in Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories, Lee said, adding that Taiwanese traveling or doing business there are advised to avoid crowded places.
The ministry has instructed the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Tel Aviv and other offices to issue advisories to nationals abroad to raise awareness of the situation, Lee said.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
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TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow