Asia Pacific Daily Ai Ren
According to Taiwan media reports, Palau President Hui Shuren arrived in Taiwan on the 28th and began a five-day "visit".
Palau is located in the Western Pacific Ocean, more than 700 miles south of Guam . It belongs to Caroline Islands and is one of the gateways of the Pacific Ocean to enter Southeast Asia.
53-year-old Hui Shuren was born in the United States and was originally a wealthy businessman. He took up his post in January this year. This "visiting Taiwan" is his first visit since taking office and the first foreign head of state to visit Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hui Shuren's visit was mainly for the "tourism corridor" between Palau and Taiwan. He said Palau is ready to welcome Taiwanese tourists and is looking forward to the itinerary to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Taiwan and taste Taiwanese food in the next few days.
It is worth noting that in addition to the first lady of Palau, the deputy speaker of Congress and others, there is also an unexpected figure - US Ambassador to Palau Hennessiniran.
This is the first public visit to Taiwan and the United States since the "Taiwan-US severance in 1979".
Although Hennessiniran kept a low profile throughout the whole process, Hui Shuren deliberately emphasized the role played by the United States between Taiwan and Palau.
In his speech, he mentioned, "The United States joins us here today, which is very important." The joint efforts of the United States, Taiwan and Palestinian parties "make (today) a reality."
He also said that thanks to Hennessiniran, Palau can only receive the new crown vaccine from the United States in January this year and participate in the United States' rapid epidemic prevention plan. "For countries with common values, mutual support and joint efforts are very important."
Hennesiniran is former US President Trump Not to serve as the US ambassador to Palau on September 30, 2019. He supports the "Taipei Act". He once publicly stated at the ambassador hearing in the U.S. Senate that Taiwan is an important partner of the United States and has also publicly claimed that the U.S. representatives abroad have the responsibility to fight back against China's "malicious behavior."
Although Palau is a small country, Hui Shuren's arrival and the accompanying of the US ambassador have aroused the excitement of the leaders and the media of Taiwan. Some green media said that this once again demonstrates the United States' positive affirmation and recognition of Taiwan's "alliance" relations.
In fact, this excitement is completely understandable. After all, Taiwan has experienced an avalanche of "diplomatic diplomatic relations" in recent years.
Since Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016, she has successively "breaked diplomatic relations" with Sao Tome Principe and Panama . In 2018, she lost 33 Dominicans, Burkina Faso and El Salvador in one go. In 2019, she has successively terminated her "diplomatic" relations with the South Pacific island countries Solomon Islands and Kiribati .
As of now, there are only 15 "friendly countries" left in Taiwan. What makes the Taiwan authorities even more anxious is that despite the "support" of the United States, this situation does not seem to have improved.
According to previous reports from foreign media, seeing that neighboring Central and South America have recently received vaccines from mainland China, such as Brazil , Chile and Peru , Taiwan, which is also facing the problem of vaccine shortage, is the only "diplomatic country" in South America, Paraguay , and , and wants to "abandon the dark and turn to the light" and embrace mainland China.
In fact, as early as April last year, several opposition members of Paraguay jointly proposed a joint proposal, requiring the government to immediately cut off "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan and instead establish diplomatic relations with mainland China. Although the bill was not passed in the end, it really made the Taiwan authorities feel worried.
As Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian emphasized, China's position on the issue of US-Taiwan exchanges is clear and consistent. China urges the US to fully recognize the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and also requires Taiwan not to "hold the US to respect itself."
(Source: Asia Pacific Daily APD News)
