The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to give funding originally intended for the Solomon Islands and Kiribati to Taiwan’s remaining four Pacific allies, a diplomatic source said.
Taiwan cut diplomatic ties with the Solomon Islands and Kiribati on Monday and Friday, respectively, after the two countries switched allegiance to China.
Taiwan now has 15 diplomatic allies.
Photo: EPA-EFE/Ritchie B. Tongo
The source, who asked to remain anonymous, last week said that the ministry had sent its budget proposal for next year to the Legislative Yuan in late August and is awaiting lawmakers’ approval.
Asked about the budget originally earmarked for the two countries, the source said the money is expected to be used to solidify ties with Taiwan’s remaining Pacific allies, but did not disclose the exact amount to be reallocated.
Taiwan still has four Pacific allies: the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau and Tuvalu.
Nauru and Tuvalu have just elected new political leaders, while Palau and the Marshall Islands are soon to hold general elections, the source said.
A major shift in power could affect their relationship with Taiwan, the source said, adding that the ministry needs all the resources it has to solidify ties with the four.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Friday said that ties with the remaining Pacific allies are very close and he sees no reason to worry.
The ministry’s budget proposal for next year stands at NT$28.2 billion (US$910 million), a NT$2.2 billion increase from a year earlier.
The increase is mainly to be used for foreign aid projects in response to Beijing’s campaign to lure Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, the ministry said.
The budget is to be used to provide assistance to diplomatic allies through bilateral cooperation projects that boost construction of infrastructure, and education and training programs, it said.
Taiwan has lost seven diplomatic allies to China since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) assumed office in May 2016.
Beijing has taken a hardline stance on cross-strait relations since Tsai refused to accept the so-called “1992 consensus.”
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
However, Beijing has never publicly recognized the second part of the consensus.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
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