Taiwan has decided not to participate in Expo 2015 in Milan after reviewing an Italian government proposal that it present itself as a “corporate entity” at the world fair rather than a nation, officials said yesterday.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been in talks with Rome in the hopes of working out an arrangement, “but it is a pity that Italy only agreed to [our] presence as ‘Taiwan Corporate’ in the ‘corporate area,’” ministry spokesperson Anna Kao (高安) said.
According to a government source, Taiwan failed to secure a commitment from the Italian government that the nation would have a pavilion in the expo’s country area. Rome had proposed that Taiwan be placed in the corporate area.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has assessed Rome’s proposal by soliciting opinions from Taiwanese firms about how their participation would generate new business opportunities and concluded that the expected economic benefits would be “limited,” an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak on the matter.
They “were not enthusiastic” about the world fair, she said.
A report from Milan by television station TVBS on Monday quoted Lai Tien-fu (賴天福), chairman of the Taiwanese business association in the city, as saying that an area of about 330 ping (1,090m2) had been designated a “Taiwan corporate” pavilion near the pavilions of Russia, Saudi Arabia and Japan.
The cost of a corporate pavilion was about NT$300 million (US$9.69 million), a third of the NT$1 billion it cost Taiwan to participate in Expo 2010 in Shanghai, Lai said.
It was a shame that the government decided to shun the expo out of “national dignity and fiscal situation” concerns, Lai said.
Lai said that he filed petitions with Taiwan’s representative office in Italy and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), only to be given the cold shoulder.
Meanwhile, a report on the expo’s Web site said that the Italy-Taiwan inter-parliamentary friendship group raised a parliamentary question with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to find out why Taiwan’s participation in the expo had not yet been ensured.
The report said the parliamentary question bore the signature of Italian Senator Lucio Malan, president of the friendship group.
In his question, Malan said the Italian government was risking excluding a democratic country from the expo out of “fear of the giant, Beijing.”
The report said that Malan wanted to bring the diplomatic detente between Taipei and Beijing to Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino’s attention.
Valter Zanetta, president of the association for cultural and economic relationships between Italy and Taiwan, was quoted in the report as saying that the offer made by Rome to use the title “Taiwan corporate” was not accepted because that would imply Taiwan is a company and not a country.
According to the expo’s Web site, participants in the expo are identified as official or non-official as defined by the rules of the International Exhibitions Bureau, an intergovernmental organization created to supervise the expo.
Official participants are 144 countries and three international organizations, while non-official participants may be groups of representatives, institutions or other entities.
Given the importance of the expo’s theme, the Italian government decided in 2011 to invite all UN member states to open the doors of the expo to non-governmental organizations and companies as key stakeholders in the global debate on the challenges related to nutrition and food, it said.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
HOTEL HIRING: An official said that hoteliers could begin hiring migrant workers next year, but must adhere to a rule requiring a NT$2,000 salary hike for Taiwanese The government is to allow the hospitality industry to recruit mid-level migrant workers for housekeeping and three other lines of work after the Executive Yuan yesterday approved a proposal by the Ministry of Labor. A shortage of workers at hotels and accommodation facilities was discussed at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee. A 2023 survey conducted by the Tourism Administration found that Taiwan’s lodging industry was short of about 6,600 housekeeping and cleaning workers, the agency said in a report to the committee. The shortage of workers in the industry is being studied, the report said. Hotel and Lodging Division Deputy Director Cheng
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
RSS