Taipei, Feb. 13 (CNA) Tuvalu Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia and his wife will arrive in Taiwan Saturday for a five-day visit at the invitation of the Republic of China government. Taiwan and Tuvalu will celebrate the 30th anniversary of their diplomatic relations this year. Ielemia's visit marks the close friendship between the two island states, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Friday in a statement. Tuvalu is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean midway between Hawaii and Australia. It is composed of nine islets and has a population of around 11,000 people. That makes it the third least inhabited independent country in the world, with only Vatican City and Nauru having smaller populations.
During his stay, Ielemia will visit President Ma Ying-jeou, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou, according to the MOFA statement.
In addition, the prime minister will be interviewed by the Taipei-based CommonWealth Magazine, which organized a "saving Tuvalu islets from global warming with green ideas" activity last Dec. 10, inviting elementary school students to draw their ideas on paper.
Ielemia has been invited to tell Taiwanese students in person how his country is faced with being inundated by rising sea levels resulting from global warming, according to the MOFA.
(By Elizabeth Hsu)
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