Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) protested against Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) designation of Taiwan as “Taipei,China,” at the bank’s 57th annual meeting, a ministry official who was part of Taiwan’s delegation said.
The ADB’s annual meeting was held in Tbilisi, Georgia from Thursday last week to Sunday.
Chuang, who attended the annual meeting for the second time since assuming the post in January last year, voiced Taiwan’s disagreement over the bank unilaterally changing the nation’s designation, and urged the ADB to correct Taiwan’s name at the regional bank, the official said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Finance via CNA
Established in 1966, the ADB is owned by 68 members, with 49 from the region.
Taiwan was one of the bank’s founding members, but it has been called “Taipei,China” (space after the comma deliberately omitted) since 1986, a designation given after China joined the bank.
Chuang, who is to continue as minister of finance after president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, also serves as an ADB board governor.
As an ADB member country, Taiwan has tried to fulfill its obligation and carry out its responsibilities, calling on all member countries at the bank to respect each other and allow Taiwan to participate in the bank’s activities on an equal footing, Chuang said.
In her speech at the ADB meeting, the theme of which was “Bridge to the Future,” Chuang also focused on climate change, as the Asia Pacific region faces pressing challenges from climate change, a ministry official said.
In November last year, the ADB launched its Climate Change Action Plan 2023-2030 in which the bank set out a new operating model.
At a time when the ADB has reformed and positioned itself as the climate bank for the Asia Pacific region, climate finance has become one of the most important issues at the multilateral bank, Chuang said.
Taiwan will support the bank’s financial management reforms to allow the bank to extend more lending to member nations that need it, to help address the impact of climate change, she added.
The Asian Development Fund of the ADB, which provides grants to the bank’s lower-income developing member countries, is replenished every four years and includes this year.
Taiwan would provide support to the ADB in extending assistance to the so-called Small Island Developing States, a group of developing countries which are small island countries and tend to share similar sustainable development challenges, Chuang said.
Taiwan has provided US$1.55 billion in capital subscription to the bank, and also contributed and committed US$133.43 million to ADB special funds since becoming a member, the Manila-based ADB said in a publication released last month on its Web site.
The ADB should place more emphasis on improving the poor quality of infrastructure in the Pacific islands, Chuang said.
Taiwan is willing to share its experience with ADB member nations on other issues, including gender equality and female empowerment, she said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS