Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kwang. CNA photo
Taipei, Jan. 17 (CNA) Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) will attend the inauguration of Marshall Islands President-elect Hilda C. Heine on Jan. 22 as a special envoy of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) just days after another Pacific ally severed ties with Taiwan.
Tien's delegation will leave Taiwan on Wednesday afternoon and return home on Jan. 23, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement Wednesday.
During his stay in the Marshall Islands, one of Taiwan's 12 formal diplomatic allies, Tien will meet with Heine, incoming Foreign and Trade Minister Kalani Kaneko, Legislative Speaker Brenson Wase, and other top officials to discuss cooperation projects, MOFA said.
Congratulating Heine and her new government, MOFA said Taiwan will continue to work with the Marshall Islands on food security, health care, basic infrastructure, climate change adaptation, and women's empowerment.
It will also work to deepen the bilateral partnership and jointly safeguard peace, stability, and prosperity in the Pacific region, the statement said.
Heine was elected president on Jan. 2, 2024 by a 17-16 margin over David Kabua, who ousted Heine in 2020 after her previous stint as president from 2016 to 2020 by a 20-12 vote with one abstention.
In the Marshall Islands, presidents are chosen by the country's 33 parliamentarians, who are popularly elected.
Tien's visit to the Marshall Islands came two days after Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China (ROC), lost another ally in the region.
Nauru, roughly 1,000 kilometers southwest of the Marshall Islands, announced Monday that it was severing ties with the ROC to recognize the People's Republic of China.
That left the ROC with 12 allies worldwide, including the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau in the Pacific region.
Following Nauru's decision, the Marshall Islands' embassy in Taiwan said in a Facebook post that the country values Taiwan as a "key partner in the promotion of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region."
"The people of Taiwan have a right to self-government and to participate as an invaluable member of the international community of nations and the RMI reaffirms its commitment to diplomatic relations with the ROC (Taiwan)," it said in the post.
Tuvalu and Palau also pledged to stick with Taiwan.
The severing of ties between Taiwan and Nauru came two days after Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was elected president.
It was the 10th diplomatic ally Taipei has lost to Beijing since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in May 2016 due to deteriorating cross-Taiwan Strait relations.
more OCAC News, welcome to
OCACNEWS.NET.
