The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday reiterated Taiwan’s sovereignty, saying that it has never been ruled by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The ministry issued the remarks after Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau was quoted by the Chinese-language edition of Russia’s Sputnik News Agency as saying in an interview in Lithuania on Monday that Poland recognizes the “one China” policy and that Taiwan is part of China.
The ministry would continue to stress to members of the international community that the Republic of China is a sovereign nation, not a part of the PRC, and that Taiwan’s future can only be decided by its 23.5 million people, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said yesterday.
Taiwan and Poland are democratic partners and would continue deepen bilateral relations, she said, adding that the two countries had so far signed 22 agreements, with the most recent one — on judicial cooperation — having taken effect in February.
On Saturday, Taiwan took delivery of 400,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine donated by Poland.
The vaccine made Poland Taiwan’s third-largest vaccine donor, after the US and Japan.
Poland said that it was given 1 million masks, 5,000 protective suits and 20,000 surgical gowns by Taiwan last year after the COVID-19 pandemic spread worldwide.
The European country said that it made the vaccine donation to return the favor and to help Taiwan boost its vaccination rate.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese