Europe-lovers keen to trace the variety of cultures embodied under the umbrella of the EU will get an eye-opening opportunity during "European Week 2003" in Taipei.
"At a time when the European Commission has just opened an office in Taiwan, I am particularly glad that one of the first acts of the office is to organize a European Culture Week in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwanese cultural circles, the offices of EU members in Taipei and the European Chamber of Commerce of Taipei," Viviane Reding, a member of the European Commission, was quoted as saying in a press release.
While the European public is increasingly familiar with Taiwan, "especially thanks to the success in Europe of filmmakers like Ang Lee (
One of the highlights is an exhibition at the Chungwha Post Museum where over 100 posters featuring the evolution of the EU will be displayed, according to Hugues Mignot, director of the Belgian Trade Association in Taipei.
Mignot said the six-day exhibition, which opens next Tuesday, would mark the first time that these posters from Brussels were exhibited in Asia.
The opening ceremony of the European Week will take place at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum at 6pm Monday, according to the foreign ministry.
A six-day European Film Festival at the Taipei House also starts Monday, the ministry said.
Local graduate students are scheduled to present their research papers on topics related to the EU during a forum on Tuesday at a program organized by Taipei's European Union Research Forum.
Other programs include a seminar next Thursday on illegal immigration and a conference on Friday on the European financial and capital markets and the prospect for investment.
The European Chamber of Commerce of Taipei will also sponsor a "Europe Day" banquet on May 30, while an international seminar on the EU enlargement will be held on June 2 at the Tamkang University.
More information on the European Week program is available on the Internet (www.mofa.gov.tw).
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
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A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all