DUBAI, United Arab of Emirates — China on Saturday lodged a protest after calls at the UN climate talks in Dubai to include Taiwan, the self-governing democracy claimed by Beijing.
Two of the dwindling number of countries that recognise Taiwan — Guatemala and the tiny Pacific island of Nauru — both hailed support f rom Taipei in addresses at the COP28 conference.
“I would take this opportunity to make special reference to the government of Taiwan, a friendly co untry which has contributed via international cooperation to development projects to bolster adaptation and resilience projects on climate change,” said Marco Vinicio Ochoa, a vice minister from the Central American country.
“Therefore, we call for them to be able to participate in this important forum,” he said.
A representative from Beijing exercised a right to respond to raise objections.
“A handful of countries ignored the fact that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and made noises about the participation by the Taiwan authorities,” she said.
“In fact, the Taiwan region can contribute to the global climate change fight through existing arrangements.”
The United Nations booted out Taiwan, formally the Republic of China, in 1971 and Beijing in recent years has stepped up pressure on countries to refuse even a semblance of recognition to Taiwan.
Taiwan has nonetheless submitted an action plan to curb climate change to the UN climate body in line with the 2015 accord and in Dubai took out advertisements in public places to highlight its activities.
WASHINGTON, United States — The US State Department has approved the emergency sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition, it said Saturday.
The department said it had notified Congress on Friday of a sale of 13,981 hi gh-explosive 120mm tank cartridges and related equipment worth $106.5 million.
That sale, while relatively small, comes amid heated political debate over the Gaza war, with Republ icans slowing a far larger Biden administration request for new military spending for Israel and Ukraine, and Democrats divided over the use of US weaponry against Palestinian civilians.
The State Department said the secretary of state had determined that “an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale to the Government of Israel” of the weaponry, thereby waiving the normal requirement of Congressional review.
The statement said the sale, from US Army inventory, would be used by Israel “as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense” and would “not alter the basic military balance in the region.”
On Wednesday, Republican senators blocked a White House request for $106 billion in emergency aid primarily for Ukraine and Israel as conservatives balked at the exclusion of immigration reforms they had demanded.
The package would include roughly $60 billion to help Ukraine in its war with Russia and $10 billion for Israel in its conflict with Hamas, as well as aid for Taiwan.
With the death toll in Gaza steadily mounting, meantime, some Democrats have strongly urged Israel to carry out a more targeted offensive against Hamas targets and limit civilian casualties.