The government is seeking to increase opportunities for young people to work legally while traveling in Germany next year amid greater-than-expected demand for the working holiday program launched on Oct. 11, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday.
“Thousands of Taiwanese youth have been calling the German Institute Taipei to inquire about the working holiday program, while the number of applicants who have registered for an interview has exceeded 300,” James Lee (李光章), the director-general of the ministry’s Department of European Affairs, told a press conference.
Taiwanese and German representatives signed a joint statement on Oct. 10 last year, with each side offering 200 multiple-entry visas for a working holiday program under which people aged 18 to 30 can work in the other country for up to one year.
Taiwan’s plan to increase the quota next year was well received, with the German Institute Taipei saying it would ask the German government to give the request first priority, Lee said.
Germany was the first European country and fifth in the world to sign a working holiday program with Taiwan, after Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Canada.
Lee said data on the number of German youth who had applied for the program was not yet available.
Meanwhile, Lee said last year saw a significant increase in the number of Taiwanese traveling to the UK since the inclusion of Taiwan in the British visa-waiver program in March last year.
UK Border Agency statistics showed that the number of Taiwanese visitors for short-term recreational and business purposes last year rose 107 percent to 54,170 from 26,095 in 2008.
Excluding business travelers, the number of Taiwanese visitors to the UK surged 150 percent last year, while the number of Taiwanese students in the UK rose 70 percent last year, he said.
Last year also saw a surge in visits by UK passport holders to Taiwan to 80,935, from 51,980 in 2008, Lee said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a
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