DIPLOMACY
Apostille agreement signed
An agreement to abolish the requirement to double-check public documents made with Nicaragua was signed on Wednesday last week to simplify document legalization procedures and promote bilateral exchanges, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday. The agreement was signed by Ambassador to Nicaragua Wu Chin-mu (吳進木) and Nicaraguan Minister of Foreign Affairs Denis Moncada, the ministry said in a news release. However, it would not be implemented until both nations complete their internal procedures, it said. Once the agreement goes into effect, documents from Taiwan would only need to be verified at the Bureau of Consular Affairs or at ministry offices in Taiwan before they can be used in Nicaragua, it said, adding that documents from Nicaragua to be used in Taiwan would only need to be verified in Nicaragua.
CHARITY
Huge rummage sale at TAS
After 48 years, the Taipei American School (TAS) Orphanage Club is to host its final rummage sale tomorrow from 10am to 5pm. The school no longer has space for the club to store the items it collects for its twice-a-year rummage sale and annual book sale, so the club is transporting 10 truckloads of items from its temporary storage space for a combined rummage and book blowout. There are thousands of books for readers and learners of all ages, household items, clothes, shoes and art ranging from Japanese Washi dolls in glass cases to handicrafts from Russia, Mongolia and Central America. All of the proceeds are to go to the club’s funds for needy children and orphans in Taiwan and overseas, for whom it has raised more than US$2 million since 1970. The school is at No. 800 Zhongshan N Road Sec 6 in Tianmu (天母).
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) yesterday apologized after the suicide of a civil servant earlier this month and announced that a supervisor accused of workplace bullying would be demoted. On Nov. 4, a 39-year-old information analyst at the Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) northern branch, which covers greater Taipei and Keelung, as well as Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found dead in their office. WDA northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who has been accused of involvement in workplace bullying, would be demoted to a nonsupervisory position, Ho told a news conference in Taipei. WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he would
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