President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday expressed “empathy” for Ukraine’s situation, likening it to threats Taiwan is facing from China and saying that such disputes cannot be resolved by force.
The situation at the Russia-Ukraine border needs close attention, Tsai told a high-level national security meeting in Taipei.
“Taiwan has been facing military threats and intimidation from China for a long time. Therefore, we empathize with Ukraine’s situation and support the efforts of all parties involved to maintain regional security,” the Presidential Office cited her as telling the meeting.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Tsai has asked the National Security Council to set up a working group on the Ukraine situation to assess possible effects on Taiwan’s national security, the Presidential Office said.
Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the Indo-Pacific region is not only the shared responsibility of all parties involved, but also the common expectation of the international community, Tsai said.
Employing the military is “not an option to resolve disputes — this is a universal truth,” she said.
The meeting also touched upon the nation’s COVID-19 situation, with Tsai calling on government officials to stay vigilant during the Lunar New Year holiday.
As the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 spreads with alarming speed, the situation remains severe, she said.
Officials should be on guard, as increased traveling during the holiday might lead to a surge in cases, she said.
However, the government is confident that Taiwan has enough medical resources, including hospital beds, testing capacity and medical supplies, to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, she said, adding that vaccines and treatments against the virus would be delivered as scheduled.
There is no need for alarm, she said, urging Taiwanese to get booster shots, as they greatly reduce the risks of severe COVID-19 symptoms and death.
People eligible for vaccines or boosters should make appointments as soon as possible, and try to convince vaccine-hesitant friends and family members, especially elderly people, to do the same, Tsai said.
Meanwhile, officials should work to stabilize supplies, prices and the stock market, she said.
Inflation is a cause for concern worldwide, she said, urging government agencies to use every policy tool at their disposal to stabilize prices, especially of daily necessities.
All agencies should remain vigilant, as unforeseen global events and the pandemic might cause economic turmoil, she said.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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