MAJURO/TAIPEI (TAIPEI TIMES) —The U.S and Taiwan are working together to help the Marshall Islands rebuild its parliament building, which was recently destroyed by fire, and to strengthen the Pacific nation’s resilience, the US Department of State said.
Following U.S deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau’s visit to Palau and the Marshall Islands last Wednesday and Thursday, Washington announced that it would provide US$13 million to rebuild the Nitijela parliament building, “in conjunction with support from Taiwan.”
The building was seriously damaged in a fire in the early hours of 26 August no estimate of the financial losses has yet been released.
After the incident, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung directed Taiwan’s embassy in the Marshall Islands to assess the situation and convey Taipei’s concern and sympathy to the Marshallese government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said at the time.
The U.S State Department said that, in coordination with Taiwan, the U.S is also providing US$8.3 million “to help replace Air Marshall Islands’ aging fleet and provide disaster relief capacity to outer islands, including Kwajalein Atoll, where the United States has critical military assets.”
“This initiative will enhance transportation links across the RMI’s [Republic of the Marshall Islands] vast geography, facilitating economic development and humanitarian efforts,” it said in an online fact sheet.
Palau and the Marshall Islands are diplomatic allies of Taiwan.
In response to the State Department’s fact sheet, the ministry said it welcomed continued Taiwan-U.S cooperation in the Pacific, adding that such efforts would help promote peace, stability and prosperity not only in the two Pacific nations, but across the wider Indo-Pacific region….PACNEWS