Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers launched two new parliamentary friendship organizations yesterday aimed at promoting bilateral ties with Belgium and Slovenia.
Pingtung County DPP Legislator Chung Chia-Pin (鍾佳濱) led the preparatory work and was named chairman of both the Taiwan-Belgium Congressional Association and the Taiwan-Slovenia Congressional Association.
“We can develop more active interactions with our parliamentary counterparts in Belgium and Slovenia to enhance commerce and business investment.” Chung said. “The organizations can also expand foreign relations with European countries and support President Tsai Ing-wen’s [蔡英文] new efforts on international diplomacy.”
Legislative Speaker Su Chia-chuan (蘇嘉全) is to serve as honorary chairman of both organizations, which are mostly made up of DPP members, with the addition of New Power Party legislators Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) and Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明).
European Economic and Trade Office Head Madeleine Majorenko also attended the event.
In his address, Belgian Representative to Taiwan Rik van Droogenbroeck said that a delegation of Belgian government officials and parliamentarians visited Taiwan earlier this year, and that frequency of official Belgium visits has increased in recent years, as officials have been impressed with Taiwan’s social and political developments toward a free democratic system.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Chih-chung (吳志中) said that he would consider promoting soccer diplomacy to broaden Taiwan’s international friendship and sporting links, as Belgium are among the favorites for Euro 2016, which starts next month, and Belgian-Taiwanese player Xavier Chen (陳昌源) is a popular figure, who many think should captain the Taiwan national team.
With regards to Slovenia, Chung said that many Taiwanese companies are interested in exploring business opportunities and developing bilateral trade with the country.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS