The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday called on Taiwanese stranded in Myanmar to contact the local Taipei Economic and Cultural Office as soon as possible for assistance amid an escalation in violence in the Southeast Asian country.
Armed conflict broke out in northern Myanmar late last month, with the UN describing it as “the largest in scale and most extensive geographically” since a military coup in February 2021.
An alliance of ethnic minority insurgent groups joined forces with fighters calling for democracy to launch an attempt to challenge the junta’s rule, Reuters reported.
Photo: AFP
Taipei has so far helped 149 Taiwanese return to Taiwan, while 84 remain in the nation, ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) said.
Traveling in northern Myanmar has become difficult and foreigners are prohibited from crossing through many areas, he said.
The office is working with overseas Taiwanese in Myanmar and international non-governmental organizations to help stranded Taiwanese, Liu said.
When receiving calls for assistance from Taiwanese, the office would locate the person right away and help them work out plans to seek safety, he said.
Regarding reports that Burmese authorities had as of Tuesday handed over 31,000 telecom fraud suspects to China as part of a bilateral effort to crack down on online scams, Liu said that the National Police Agency is looking into reports that six of the suspects are Taiwanese.
The agency would help them return to Taiwan if the report is found to be true, he added.
In other developments, the ministry has alerted Taiwanese residents and travelers in Zimbabwe about the seriousness of a local cholera epidemic.
The cholera outbreak in the southern African country has become increasingly serious, with more than 500 new cases reported every week since the end of last month, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Anthony Ho (賀忠義) said.
As of last week, there were more than 1,200 confirmed cases, more than 50 confirmed deaths from cholera and more than 150 deaths suspected to be from the disease this year, Ho said, citing Zimbabwean Ministry of Health and Child Care data.
Earlier this month, Zimbabwe declared a state of emergency in the capital, Harare, over the outbreak, which likely resulted from water contamination, he said.
Taiwanese in Zimbabwe should pay close attention to the epidemic and, when in need, contact the Taipei Liaison Office in the Republic of South Africa at 27-82-802-9380 or the ministry at 886-800-085-095, he said.
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
RSS