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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Minister to lead delegation to ocean conference
A profile of Environmental Protection Administration Minister Chang Tzi-chin, second right, is listed on the Web site of the seventh Our Ocean Conference in Palau. Photo: screen grab from the Our Ocean Conference Web site
/ Staff writer, with CNA
Environmental Protection Administration （EPA） Minister Chang Tzi-chin （張子敬） is to lead a government delegation to the seventh Our Ocean Conference in Palau this week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday.
The conference, to be held tomorrow and Thursday, is hosted by the US and Palau, one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.
It would be the first time Taiwan is able to send an official delegation to the annual event that is committed to taking concrete and significant actions to protect the ocean, the ministry said in a statement.
Previously, the EPA minister participated in the conference in a personal capacity.
Senior government officials would also be part of the delegation, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang （田中光） and Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Tsai Ching-piao （蔡清標）, the ministry said.
Representatives of the Coast Guard Administration and the Fisheries Agency would also join the delegation, it added.
The delegation is listed on the conference’s Web site as one of the participating “Countries/Authorities” under the name “Taiwan,” while Chang is identified as having “led the Environmental Protection Administration （EPA） of the Republic of China （Taiwan） since 2019” in his biography.
Chang is scheduled to give a keynote speech on Thursday, in which he is to share Taiwan’s efforts in solving marine pollution, the ministry said.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr had invited President Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文） to attend the conference, but Tsai appointed Chang as her special envoy, it said.
Tsai has been in quarantine at home since Friday after a person she had dined with later tested positive for COVID-19, her spokesperson said.
The theme of this year’s conference is “Our Ocean, Our People, Our Prosperity.” It aims to draw on “Palau’s rich tradition as an ocean society” and focus “on islander perspectives and approaches to ensuring the health of our ocean,” the conference’s Web site says.
The six areas of action on which the conference is to focus are: marine protected areas for communities, ecosystems and climate; tackling marine pollution; confronting the ocean-climate crisis; creating sustainable blue economies; advancing sustainable small-scale fisheries and aquaculture; and achieving a safe, just and secure ocean.
The conference was originally scheduled to take place in December 2020, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
