Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (
Chen revealed his plans while speaking at a session of the Legislative Yuan's Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee. The session was held to discuss the nation's diplomatic situation in light of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration for a second four-year term.
During the session, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Sun Kuo-hua (
In response, Chen said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has consistently given priority to forging closer ties with the EU. With the number of EU member states expanding from 15 to 25 last month, Chen said Taiwan must make an even greater effort to promote relations with the bloc.
Barring unexpected developments, Chen said he would leave on his European trip next month with a view to integrating the resources of the Taiwan representative offices in European countries.
Asked whether the ministry has been pressured by the US over its arms procurement budget, Chen said that "although our diplomatic staff may talk about arms procurement plans with American officials in private, the weaponry procurement issue is principally handled by the Ministry of National Defense. The foreign ministry has not so far felt any US pressure over the arms procurement plan."
Opposition lawmakers brought up the issue of arms purchases because the Cabinet last week passed a ministry-proposed NT$610.8 billion (US$18.5 billion) plan to buy weapons from the US.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai