Large democratic countries in the world should adopt strategies to counter China’s bullying, particularly small developing countries such as Palau, Palauan Ambassador to Taiwan Dilmei Louisa Olkeriil said last week.
Olkeriil’s comments came as Palau Pacific Airways earlier this month decided to suspend operations, ending services to Hong Kong and to Macau through the island of Bali — its only destinations — after a drop in Chinese visitors.
The drop in visitor arrivals resulted from Beijing’s ban on group tours to Palau, imposed in November last year because of the Pacific island nation maintains diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
The majority of Palauans support the country’s diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Olkeriil told the Central News Agency on Friday last week.
“We are a democratic country, and we support and promote our relationship with countries with the same system of government, such as Taiwan,” Olkeriil said.
“Everyone knows that China pressures other countries and international organizations not to support Taiwan; organizations like the UN, WHO and World Health Assembly,” Olkeriil added.
Taiwanese hospitals have saved the lives of thousands of Palauans, making it difficult for Palau to break ties with Taiwan, Olkeriil said.
Taiwan and Palau established formal ties in 1999 and have since then collaborated in areas spanning agriculture, green energy, medical and healthcare, talent cultivation and tourism.
Visitor arrivals from China totaled 70,741 in 2016, 55,491 last year and 25,659 in the first six months of this year, Palauan Bureau of Immigration statistics showed.
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
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,
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
STAY VIGILANT: When experiencing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, such as dizziness or fatigue, near a water heater, open windows and doors to ventilate the area Rooftop flue water heaters should only be installed outdoors or in properly ventilated areas to prevent toxic gas from building up, the Yilan County Fire Department said, after a man in Taipei died of carbon monoxide poisoning on Monday last week. The 39-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), an assistant professor at Providence University in Taichung, was at his Taipei home for the holidays when the incident occurred, news reports said. He was taking a shower in the bathroom of a rooftop addition when carbon monoxide — a poisonous byproduct of combustion — leaked from a water heater installed in a poorly ventilated
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