Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday that it is checking with Taiwanese shipbuilders to see if they can build a ship suitable for Kiribati after funds transferred from Taiwan to the Pacific nation for the vessel went missing.
"We are trying to see if local shipbuilding companies can build a flat-bottom landing craft," said Elliott Charng, director general of the Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when asked about the issue.
He stressed that Taiwan was trying to help find a suitable boat supplier but would not contribute more money to Kiribati for the project.
The ministry began to talk to domestic shipbuilding companies at the behest of lawmakers in November after news emerged that financial assistance given by Taiwan to help Kiribati purchase the landing craft had disappeared, according to Charng.
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