Postal companies in China, Hong Kong and Vietnam will not attend the PhilaTaipei World Stamp Championship Exhibition in Taipei because of stalled cross-strait relations and sovereignty disputes over islands in the South China Sea, Chunghwa Post said yesterday.
The exhibition, which is to be held from Oct. 21 to Oct. 25, is to be attended by more than 80 countries around the world.
This is the first time that Taiwan has been selected to host the international event.
Chunghwa Post said postal companies in China, Hong Kong and Vietnam were registered, but China and Hong Kong have canceled because of stalled cross-strait relations since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government took office on May 20.
Chunghwa Post spokesperson Wang Shu-ming (王淑敏) said that Vietnam Post lodged a protest against Chunghwa Post after the latter on May 5 published a set of stamps advocating peace in the South China Sea in a bid to defend the nation’s sovereignty over Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島), adding that the company has no further details from the Vietnamese postal company.
Chunghwa Post chairman Philip Ong (翁文祺) said that Taiwan was awarded hosting rights of the Asian International Stamp Exhibition last year, which is considered the precursor to the World Stamp Championship Exhibition.
He said that the nation qualified to host the exhibition after securing approval from the members of Federation Internationale de Philatelie.
SPEEDING ELETRIC VEHICLES: Available without license requirements, the low-cost vehicles, especially if illicitly modified, can often reach a dangerous speed The government should crack down on illegal electric bicycles and scooters, the non-profit Consumers’ Foundation said on Friday, citing research on the potentially dangerous speed of the vehicles. Electric bicycles and lightweight electric scooters have gained popularity as they do not require registration and riders do not need licenses, the foundation said, adding that as many as 40 percent of them can reach speeds exceeding the legal limit of 25kph for non-licensed two-wheelers. Some consumers also purchased legal electric vehicles and modified them to reach higher speeds, it said. “If the government does not step up efforts to confiscate these
DIPLOMATIC MOVES: Beijing is reportedly pressing the state after reports of forming links with Taiwan, while the ministry is also planning to reopen its office in Guam soon A representative office is set to open in Somaliland at the end of this month, at the earliest, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday amid reports that Beijing is sending a diplomatic delegation to the east African country. The ministry on July 1 announced that Taiwan and Somaliland would establish representative offices, following a report by the Somaliland Chronicle Web site. It said at the time that the two nations did not plan to establish formal ties. Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi has instructed close confidants to explore the possibility of “mutual recognition between Taiwan and Somaliland,” the Somaliland Chronicle reported
A Belgian man who tested positive for COVID-19 in Taiwan last week is likely to have contracted the disease in Taipei in late June, National Taiwan University (NTU) College of Public Health vice dean Tony Chen (陳秀熙) said yesterday. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Saturday reported that the man, who is in his 20s, came to Taiwan for work on May 3 and tested positive on Wednesday last week as he was about to depart. The man in March reported loss of taste and smell, the center said, adding that he worked in Changhua County, but visited Taipei several times,
NEW CASE REPORTED: A man who returned from South Africa on a flight with the nation’s 460th and 461st cases has now tested positive for the disease The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that there is no need to test all arrivals to the nation for COVID-19, a policy the Executive Yuan supports. The center reported one new imported case, bringing the nation’s tally of confirmed cases to 477. The new case is a Taiwanese man in his 60s who on July 25 returned from South Africa, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is also the CECC’s spokesman. The man had returned to Taiwan on the same flight as cases Nos. 460 and 461, reported on July 27, Chuang said. On July 24,
RSS