Taiwan and Palau on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Taoyuan to boost bilateral cooperation between their Austronesian ethnic groups.
Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod and Palauan Minister of Human Resources, Culture, Tourism and Development Ngiraibelas Tmetuchl signed the pact at a ceremony witnessed by Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr, who arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday, leading a Palauan delegation for a state visit and to attend yesterday’s Double Ten National Day celebrations.
Lauding his deep ties with Palau, Icyang said he had visited the Pacific country four times and had met with several Palauan delegations on their visits to Taiwan.
Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times
Tmetuchl and his tourism development team had also visited indigenous communities in Hualien and Taitung counties to gain an understanding of Taiwan’s policies in promoting aboriginal tourism, Icyang said.
Taiwan’s indigenous peoples, which comprise about 1 percent of the population, are Austronesian, and share ethnic and linguistic ties with other Austronesian people in countries across Southeast Asia and the Pacific, such as Palau.
Bilateral exchanges continued even during the COVID- 19 pandemic, Icyang said, adding that the MOU inked on Sunday would open a window for more comprehensive cooperation between the two countries on the sustainable development of their respective Austronesian communities.
Tmetuchl said that his and Icyang’s government agencies had maintained cooperative ties and engaged in exchanges for more than 10 years and achieving sustainable development for indigenous peoples was of great importance.
He said that through cooperation and exchanges, Palau had a better understanding of how to incorporate indigenous cultures into travel and tourism.
Tmetuchl suggested that developing close ties between indigenous tribal groups in the two countries could be forged through sisterhood ties.
SCENARIOS: A potential conflict with Beijing would not be similar to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China would target energy and food supplies, a researcher said China is likely to continue using economic and cyberoperations against Taiwan to force it to capitulate without resorting to a military attack, Fox News reported yesterday, citing the outcome of a tabletop exercise. Washington-based think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) earlier this month held a tabletop exercise in Taipei focusing on Beijing’s use of economic and cybercoercion against Taiwan. The FDD mentioned an “anaconda strategy,” in which Beijing would likely use cyberwarfare and disinformation campaigns followed by a blockade or other measures to strangulate Taiwan, rather than attempting an invasion, the report said. A large-scale cyberattack would be
HSINCHU CASES: Five people among 35 who were reported being sick were still in hospital after eating at a vendor in a market in Jhubei, the local health agency said Thirty-five people have sought medical treatment for acute symptoms after allegedly eating banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) from a vendor in Jhubei City (竹北), the Hsinchu County Public Health Bureau said yesterday. The bureau said that since Saturday, it has received several reports of suspected food poisoning from hospitals. The vendor has been ordered to temporarily suspend its business, it said, adding that tests were being conducted to determine whether the people had food poisoning, with results expected in about two weeks. A preliminary investigation showed that the people who sought treatment had recently eaten banh mi at a vendor at a retail market
GOOD MODEL: Speaking at his book launch, Law said that Taiwan is the most democratic Chinese-speaking country, which is why Hong Kongers relocated here China has suffocated Hong Kong’s civil society and its next target could be Taiwan, Nathan Law (羅冠聰), cofounder of the disbanded pro-democracy Hong Kong political party Demosisto, said in Taipei yesterday. Law made the remarks at a launch in Taipei for his book When the Wind Blows — the Struggles for Freedom of Hong Kong (時代推著我們前行:羅冠聰的香港備忘錄). Law has been living in the UK since he fled Hong Kong in 2020, and the book is about his fighting for the cause of freedom in the area. He was granted political asylum in 2021. “Fleeing is a long and distressing process, but it also
IMITATING OTHERS? Tsai Ing-wen’s office said the former president rents a commercial unit for her personal office and had never used election funds to purchase real estate Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday confirmed that he used about NT$43 million (US$1.35 million) from his presidential election subsidy to purchase an office unit near the Legislative Yuan in May. Ko made the remarks after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) earlier in the day told a news conference that she received a tip-off that the TPP chairman had purchased a 48.76 ping (161.2m2) office unit at Jinan Building (濟南大樓), a commercial building in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正). Lin said that Ko purchased the unit on May 10, paying about NT$43 million in cash,