President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday pledged to strengthen ties with Russia, saying he expected Moscow to grant Taiwanese visa-free travel and start direct flight services among economic and cultural exchanges.
The improvement in cross-strait relations and Taiwan’s signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China last month prompted great opportunities for more exchanges between Taiwan and other Asian countries as cross-strait relations were no longer an issue, Ma said.
OPPORTUNITY
“Many Asian countries are excited about the ECFA as they see the opportunity to strengthen economic ties with Taiwan as well,” Ma said when meeting with Vasily Do Brovolskiy, Russia’s top representative to Taiwan, at the Presidential Office.
“We expect to push for more development in economic and cultural exchanges with Russia at this historic point, starting with reciprocal visa waivers and direct air links,” he said.
The president lauded Russia’s rich natural resources and its achievements with its economy. He said the nation’s trade with Russia decreased to US$2.7 billion from US$3.6 billion in 2008 because of global financial crisis and that there were only 20 Taiwanese businessmen in Russia.
AMPLE ROOM
“There is ample room for Taiwan and Russia to increase trade and investment,” Ma said.
On educational exchanges, there are about 120 Taiwanese students studying in Russia, while 250 Russian students are pursuing their education in Taiwan, Ma said.
The president said first lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) visited Russia last month as honorary director of the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre and he expected more performing arts groups from the two sides to visit each other and increase cultural exchanges.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
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