Taiwan Today

ROC President Ma Ying-jeou promised to continue assisting Tuvalu in its efforts to combat rising sea levels and global warming during a state visit March 23. “We are committed to working with Tuvalu to carry out projects aimed at dealing with the threat of rising sea levels,” Ma said. “This will help ensure the Pacific nation’s survival.” Ma made the remarks following a briefing on the impact of rising sea levels and climatic change on the country’s nine small islands and atolls given by the Tuvalu environmental minister. Following talks with Tuvalu Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia, Ma said he was grateful for the country’s support of ROC efforts to enter international organizations, including the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, and Tuvalu’s donation of US$210,000 in the wake of Typhoon Morakot. “The ROC will continue to strengthen diplomatic ties and deepen cooperation with Tuvalu in future,” the president said. In response, Ielemia gave thanks for ongoing ROC assistance in a variety of areas, including fishery, agriculture and education, since establishing diplomatic ties in 1979. He also heaped praise on Ma for inviting 15 Tuvaluans to take part in a Taiwan-based training program to become regional fishing observers. During his four-hour visit, the president won the hearts of locals when he compared the nation’s beauty to that of a “necklace of shells floating on the sea.” He also donated volleyballs and soccer balls to wildly cheering Nauti Primary School students. An ROC-flag waving crowd saw Ma’s Air Force One depart from Tuvalu’s Funafuti International Airport bound for Nauru, the fourth stop on his state visit to the region. The president is expected to touch down in Taiwan March 27. (CYH-JSM)