Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Tzou-yien (林奏延), head of the Taiwanese delegation at the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, yesterday shook hands with his Chinese counterpart Li Bin (李斌) of China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission.
The handshake reportedly took place outside the assembly chamber and was described as a “chance encounter.”
Lin said he personally felt the encounter was an extension of the Chinese delegation’s “goodwill,” adding that if one approached the issue “from a professional and practical angle, it was very natural that both would meet at the convention.”
Executive Yuan spokesperson Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said that the handshake was a mere formality, adding that the Taiwanese delegation is not ruling out in-depth interactions with other nations’ delegations on matters such as medical care and health.
Ministry of Health and Welfare spokesman Wang Che-chao (王哲超) said the two officials shook hands and exchanged swift, simple greetings.
It was reported that people in the Chinese delegation tried to block the media from taking pictures of the encounter.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the New Power Party (NPP) both said that the encounter was a positive development, while Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said the important question to ask is whether Lin told Li of Taiwan’s stance on matters.
KMT Legislator Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said the encounter might prove beneficial for future meetings, but that one “chance encounter” does not mean that Taiwan would be able to participate in other international conventions.
Lee said she hopes that the Republic of China’s (ROC) participation in international affairs would not diminish due to the transfer of power in Taiwan.
NPP Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐), who is part of the delegation, said he hoped relations would normalize between Taiwan and China to establish more solid and formal cooperation on global disease prevention.
NPP Legislative Yuan caucus convener Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) and People First Party caucus convener Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said that interaction on higher levels of government in terms of medical care on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are required.
The subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in Kumamoto, Japan, turned a profit in the first quarter of this year, marking the first time the first fab of the unit has become profitable since mass production started at the end of 2024. According to the contract chipmaker’s financial statement released on Friday, Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc (JASM), a joint venture running the fab in Kumamoto, posted NT$951 million (US$30.19 million) in profit in the January-to-March period, compared with a loss of NT$1.39 billion in the previous quarter, and a loss of NT$3.25 billion in the first quarter of
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
RESOLUTE BACKING: Two Republican senators are planning to introduce legislation that would impose immediate sanctions on China if it attempts to invade Taiwan US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday reaffirmed US congressional support for Taiwan, saying the US and “all freedom-loving people” have a stake in preventing China from seizing Taiwan by force. Johnson made the remarks in an interview with Fox News Sunday on US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last week. In an interview that aired on Friday on Fox News, just as Trump wrapped up a high-stakes visit to China, he said he has yet to green-light a new US$14 billion arms package to Taiwan and that it “depends on China.” “It’s a very good
US President Donald Trump yesterday said he would speak to President William Lai (賴清德) as his administration considers whether to move ahead with a US$14 billion weapons sale to Taiwan — a potential arms deal that has drawn criticism from China. “Well, I’ll speak to him. I speak to everybody,” Trump told reporters yesterday when asked if he had any plans to call his counterpart, although he did not offer a time frame for when such a conversation could take place. Trump previously said he would speak to the person “that’s running Taiwan,” without specifying who he meant. “We have that situation very
RSS