DIPLOMACY
Improved EU ties sought
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is to prioritize forging stronger ties with the EU this year, an effort that includes striving for a bilateral economic cooperation agreement. “The ministries of foreign and economic affairs will continue their efforts to seek the support of European countries to begin negotiating an economic agreement,” Department of European Affairs Director-General Zhang Ming-zhong (張銘忠) said at a news briefing yesterday. He said the economic agreement negotiations, along with a proposed bilateral investment pact, are among priorities seeking to develop relations with EU members this year. Zhang also said a research institute in the Netherlands has been commissioned to conduct a feasibility study on the economic cooperation agreement.
MILITARY
RIMPAC talks defended
The nation has taken every opportunity to inform the US of its hope to participate in the Rim of the Pacific exercise (RIMPAC), the world’s largest international maritime exercise, Deputy Minister of Defense Andrew Hsia (夏立言) said on Wednesday. “Every time we have meetings with US military officials, we express our desire to join the exercise,” he said at a hearing in the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. Participation in the exercise would help increase Taiwan’s cooperation with the US and other countries in terms of international humanitarian assistance, he said. “The US is giving consideration to our request,” Hsia said. “We have also told the US that we are willing to start out as an observer.”
MILITARY
Warship name mooted
Representative to the US Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) joked on Wednesday that if the nation names one of its new warships after his great-great-grandfather Shen Baozhen (沈葆楨), China would think twice about attacking the vessel. Speaking at a legislative hearing, the diplomat said his great-great-grandfather commanded high respect in China, having served as the viceroy of Liangjiang (Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Anhui provinces) during the latter parts of the Qing Dynasty and was known as the founder of the Chinese Imperial Navy at the time. On Dec. 18, US President Obama Barrack signed into law the Navy Vessels Transfer Act, which authorized the sale of four US Perry-class frigates to Taiwan. At the hearing, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) asked Shen Lyu-shun about news reports that one of the frigates was to be named after Shen Baozhen.
DIPLOMACY
French slain honored
France’s representative office observed a minute’s silence yesterday in honor of 12 people killed in an apparent terrorist attack at the office of a satirical magazine in Paris on Wednesday. Led by French representative to Taiwan Olivier Richard, foreign and local office staff gathered in the lobby in silent tribute to the people killed, who included four cartoonists at the magazine Charlie Hebdo and two police officers. A minute’s silence was also observed by Frederic Laplanche, head of the European Economic and Trade Office in Taipei. At a news briefing, Zhang Ming-zhong (張銘忠), director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, said that he had sent a message of condolence to Richard upon learning of the incident. Meanwhile, other French nationals in Taipei and Greater Kaohsiung were also planning gatherings at which they would observe a minute of silence.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods