President Chen Shui-bian (
"The 23 million Taiwanese people should neither be separated from the international community nor be unable to serve its obligation to international organizations," Chen said when receiving a senior Norwegian congressional delegation.
"We also have to express our appreciation to congressmen from five Nordic countries, who recently acknowledged Taiwan's democratic achievements and during a teleconference last month promised to facilitate their governments' support for Taiwan's bid," Chen said.
Chen received Carl Hagen, chairman of Norway's right-wing Progress Party, at the Presidential Office. The president said that Taiwan should have a voice in the world health regulatory body and he hoped Hagen could use his clout to push the Norwegian government to support Taiwan's bid to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer.
"Only in this way can Taiwan contribute its experience and resources to world health development as well as the global epidemic control network, in which there now exists a hole due to Taiwan's absence," Chen said.
The WHA -- the WHO's governing body -- will convene its annual conference in Geneva next week and Taiwan's special delegation, led by Minister of Health Chen Chien-jen (
Previous efforts failed seven times because of Beijing's strong opposition.
According to the government's Ministry of Health, though it is not optimistic that Taiwan will achieve its goal, it is more likely this year that a vote may be held to decide Taiwan's application in the name of a sovereign health entity.
Chen said to Hagen that he hoped, if Norway could not express its explicit support for Taiwan's bid, it should at least refrain from speaking against the bid.
Meanwhile, Chen also promised that his inauguration speech will satisfy the expectations of both the domestic and international communities.
"Some people from the foreign and domestic communities continue to make suggestions to me about what I should or should not say in my speech," Chen said at a meeting with congressmen from the Netherlands.
"It has become a severe challenge and test for me. However, I am confident that I will deliver my new speech with wisdom and creativity to the approval of the majority of the domestic community as well as the broader international community," he said.
Chen also thanked the government of the Netherlands for adopting a parliamentary resolution last December proposing that the EU lift the bans restricting Taiwan's top government officials from visiting European countries, as well as maintaining the international weapons embargo against China.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
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