Five Taiwanese evacuated from Haiti, helped by 'friendly nation': MOFA

Taipei, March 27 (CNA) Five Taiwanese nationals have arrived in the Dominican Republic after being airlifted out of Haiti to get away from that country's escalating unrest, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday.

The five Taiwanese citizens left Haiti, one of Taiwan's few remaining formal diplomatic allies, at 8 a.m. Tuesday with the help of "like-minded country/countries" and arrived in the neighboring Dominican Republic later the same day, MOFA said in a statement.

After arriving in the Dominican Republic, the five individuals were welcomed by Taiwanese expatriates there, and they are now free to decide whether they wish to return to Taiwan or head to other destinations, MOFA said.

The ministry would not disclose which so-called like-minded country or countries helped facilitate the evacuation, but Canada and the United States both evacuated citizens from Haiti on Tuesday, with Canada taking them to the Dominican Republic.

According to MOFA, the five nationals made their decision to leave Haiti after Taiwan's embassy there asked more than 20 of the country's nationals in Haiti, including embassy staff, if they wanted to leave amid escalating tensions.

A total 18 Taiwanese nationals, including the country's ambassador, embassy staff, technical mission members, and Taiwanese businesspersons, are still in Haiti, and the embassy continues to function normally, MOFA said.

The ministry will decide whether to evacuate more Taiwanese if the situation in Haiti worsens, it said.

In a separate Facebook post, the Republic of China (Taiwan) embassy in Haiti said the five nationals all expressed a desire to leave Haiti for health reasons or personal considerations, and it thanked those involved in helping with the evacuation.

It also confirmed that the embassy would remain open.

"All the employees of the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in Haiti, including the Taiwanese Technical Mission and private sector partners involved in bilateral projects, will continue to maintain their operations despite the current difficulties as a move to reaffirm their unwavering commitment to Haiti," it said.

The evacuation came after Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said last week that Taiwan's government has prepared evacuation contingencies but that the time had not yet come for a full-scale evacuation.

Wu also said that despite the latest round of unrest in Port-au-Prince, there were currently no signs indicating that it will affect bilateral relations.

Cheng Li-cheng (鄭力城), the head of MOFA's Latin American and Caribbean Affairs department, said last week that it would be safer for Taiwanese citizens to shelter in place given the risks of moving around Haiti at the moment.