Legislator Trong Chai (蔡同榮) of the DPP was elected president of the ROC-US Parliamentary Amity Association Wednesday, a group comprising 120 lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties.
The association elected Chai to succeed Shih Ming-teh (施明德), who lost his re-election bid in the Dec. 1, 2001 legislative elections.
At the meeting in which the elections were held, association members also adopted a resolution allowing the three main opposition parties -- the KMT, the People First Party (PFP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) -- to recommend one of its legislators as new vice president of the association.
The TSU recommended Legislator at Large Wu Tung-sheng (
In addition, Hsiao Bi-khim (
Following his election, Chai said that he will do all that he can to increase official exchanges between Taiwan and the US.
Chai said that he is scheduled to lead a delegation on April 10 to attend an inauguration ceremony of the US-ROC Parliamentary Amity Association set up by the US House of Representatives.
Chai, a promoter of the establishment of the Formosan Association of Public Affairs in the US, voiced the hope that the formation of the two associations will help boost substantive relations between Taipei and Washington.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
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