Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Saturday began his three-day visit to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, where he attended the Caribbean ally’s 45th Independence Day celebrations.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves on Saturday afternoon greeted Lin and his delegation at Argyle International Airport. Photographs posted by Lin on Facebook showed students waving Taiwan and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines national flags outside the airport terminal.
Lin also met with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Governor-General Susan Dougan at her residence, where he signed the guestbook and wrote “Everlasting Friendship,” referring to the countries’ diplomatic relations, Lin wrote on Facebook.
Photo: screen grab from Lin Chia-lung’s Facebook page
On Sunday, he attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a new acute care hospital at Arnos Vale, together with Gonsalves and Ambassador Fiona Fan (范惠君).
Once completed, the medical facility would provide specialty services in cardiology, dialysis and urology, local media reports said.
The Taiwan-funded Overseas Engineering & Construction is responsible for the project, Lin said.
In addition to offering state-of-the-art medical service, the project would help create jobs in the country, he said, adding that Taiwan would continue to support long-term, substantive development for its allies.
Lin embarked on his first official trip to Taiwan’s diplomatic allies late on Wednesday last week and is to return on Saturday. He just concluded a trip to Guatemala. After visiting Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, he is to visit Saint Lucia, Belize, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
In each country, Lin is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with leaders and high-ranking officials, and inspect the results of cooperative projects, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
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
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 POSITION ON TAIWAN’: ‘I welcome the European Parliament’s focus on this issue and this important debate,’ European Commissioner Nicolas Schmit said on Tuesday The European Parliament yesterday passed a resolution stating that UN Resolution 2758 does not have any bearing on Taiwan’s participation in the UN or other international organizations, and rejected as unacceptable any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait. The motion passed by 432 votes in favor and 60 against with 71 abstentions during a plenary vote. The resolution condemned China’s continued military provocations against Taiwan, including drills around the nation on Monday last week. “Any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, particularly by means of force or coercion, will not be accepted and will
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