The Legislative Yuan yesterday established the Taiwan-France Parliamentary Friendship Group to improve bilateral relations with France.
During a ceremony at the Legislative Yuan, Francois Brottes, chairman of the France-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group in France, said the establishment of the Taiwan-based group would help promote exchanges and understanding in a spirit of cordiality.
He said the French body noted the changes in the relations between Taiwan and China with interest, especially in the context of the current economic crisis.
“We follow with interest the evolution of new dialogues between the two sides [of the Taiwan Strait] in the region,” he said. “The warming relationship with the continent [China] seems to be, for us, a new perspective for [the] future.”
On the issue of public health, he said members of his group would listen to Taiwan’s views and make sure that the nation’s wish to participate in the World Health Assembly would be heard.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yang Li-huan (楊麗環), who studied in Grenoble, France, was named chairwoman of the Taiwanese friendship group.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said he expected the group to further promote the already substantial relations between Taiwan and France.
France is an important partner for Taiwan in the areas of commerce, tourism, culture and technology, he said.
The inauguration was attended by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, several legislators and representatives of the French Institute in Taipei, including director, Patrick Bonneville.
The friendship group is comprised of 57 Taiwanese legislators — about half the lawmakers in the Legislative Yuan — and 33 members of the French parliament.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS