The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed gratitude to the Slovakian parliament for its support of Taiwan’s participation in the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer.
The Slovakian parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and Health Committee each passed a resolution affirming Taiwan’s effort against the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting Taipei’s observer status at the 75th WHA — the decisionmaking body of the WHO — that is to take place from May 22 to 28.
Taiwan attended annual WHA meetings as an observer from 2009 to 2016, when relations between Taipei and Beijing were better under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government. Since 2017, the WHO has refused to invite Taiwan to the assembly due to opposition from China.
Photo: Reuters
Separately, the government has pledged to donate US$500,000 to Somaliland to help the victims of a massive fire that ripped through the country’s biggest market early this month, the ministry said yesterday.
The fire at the Waheen market, a major trade and financial hub, on April 1 has cost Somaliland about US$2 billion, or 60 percent of the country’s GDP, al-Jazeera reported.
The blaze has affected the livelihoods of thousands of people, and the ministry pledged to offer emergency humanitarian assistance to those affected, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said.
Photo: AFP
The Somaliland government expressed its gratitude for the donation and said it would arrange a public ceremony at which the funds would be officially handed over, Ou said.
The government would also work with other like-minded countries to help Somaliland rebuild the market, she said.
The Somaliland government has said that 1,000 shops, and 4,200 stalls and tables at the market were destroyed in the fire, affecting more than 17,000 people who directly relied on the market for their livelihood.
Twenty-seven people were hospitalized with severe injuries.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 after years of conflict. It has offices in about a dozen countries, according to its foreign ministry’s Web site, but does not have formal diplomatic relations with any nation.
Relations between Taiwan and Somaliland have warmed over the years, with Taipei opening a representative office in Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, on Aug. 17, 2020, and Somaliland authorities opening a reciprocal office in Taipei on Sept. 9 of the same year.
Rain is to increase from Wednesday morning as Severe Tropical Storm Kong-Rey approaches, with sea warnings to be issued as early as tomorrow afternoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. As of 8am, Kong-Rey was 1,050km east-southeast of the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) heading in a northwesterly direction toward Taiwan, CWA Forecast Center Director Lin Po-tung (林伯東) said. Rainfall is to increase from Wednesday morning, especially in northern Taiwan and Yilan County, he said. A sea warning is possible from tomorrow afternoon, while a land warning may be issued on Wednesday morning, he added. Kong-Rey may intensify into a moderate typhoon as it passes
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Taiwan yesterday issued warnings to four Chinese coast guard vessels that intruded into restricted waters around the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen Islands, according to the Coast Guard Administration (CGA). The four China Coast Guard ships were detected approaching restricted waters south of Kinmen at around 2 pm yesterday, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu Branch said in a statement. The CGA said it immediately deployed four patrol boats to closely monitor the situation. When the Chinese ships with the hull numbers "14512," "14609," "14603" and "14602" separately entered the restricted waters off Fuhsing islet (復興嶼), Zhaishan (翟山), Sinhu (新湖) and Liaoluo (料羅) at 3 pm, the Taiwanese patrol
A former member of the US Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), formerly known as SEAL Team 6, said in an interview with Business Insider that the elite unit’s role in a Taiwan Strait conflict would be more limited than some might expect. The report follows an earlier one in September by the Financial Times, which said the “clandestine US Navy commando unit” has been training for missions to help Taiwan if it is invaded by China. “You don’t use a scalpel for a job a hammer can do,” the former Navy Seal said to Business Insider on condition of anonymity.
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