With a huge ice sculpture of the Kremlin as a party centerpiece, hundreds of well-wishers gathered in Taipei to wish Russia a happy birthday and toast Russia-Taiwan ties last Thursday on the eve of Russian National Day.
Although Taiwan and Russia do not have formal diplomatic relations, they have forged strong cultural and commercial ties, with trade volume reaching a record US$4 billion last year, said Sergey Gubarev, the head of the Representative Office for the Moscow-Taipei Coordination Commission on Economic and Cultural Cooperation.
The commission was established in 1992, one year after the collapse of the former Soviet Union.
Gubarev, who has been posted to Taipei for three-and-a-half years, said he has never encountered a “cold attitude” in all his interactions with Taiwanese officials and that mutual efforts will strengthen bilateral cooperation.
In addition to fruitful business relations, Taiwan and Russia have developed active and frequent cultural and academic exchanges, Gubarev said.
Taiwanese and Russian scientists are engaged in more than 50 joint projects and each year, he said.
Russia welcomes more than 300 Taiwanese students while about 200 Russians study in Taiwan. There are about 1,000 Russians in Taiwan at present.
One Russian student, Alexander Avgust, came to Taiwan on a scholarship almost four years ago. After getting his degree in politics from the Chinese Cultural University, Avgust has decided to stay to work in Taiwan.
“I like Taiwan a lot, especially the weather and the friendliness of the people,” he said.
Gubarev said more than 10,000 Taiwanese visit Russia annually but less than 2,000 Russians come to Taiwan. The main reason for this discrepancy, he said, is the lack of a beach culture in Taiwan.
For many Russians, a vacation means a break from the icy cold weather of their hometowns and so they are more interested in countries with beachfront resorts, he said.
Guests at the reception enjoyed typical Russian cuisine such as borscht and cabbage rolls, along with Russian wine.
Four Russian members of the Kaohsiung Philharmonic Orchestra performed during the reception.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
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
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS