Premier William Lai (賴清德) has confirmed the formation of a 10-person task force charged with promoting trade goals of the New Southbound Policy, a source said.
The task force, which is to report to the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations, is tasked with promoting trade and cooperation with Southeast Asian nations and India in the areas of medicine, petrochemicals and agriculture, the source said, adding that Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) has been chosen to lead the group.
Other members are Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Chih-chung (吳志中), Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花), Deputy Minister of Education Yao Leeh-ter (姚立德), Vice Minister Yan Jeou-rong (顏久榮), Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Ho Chi-kung (何啟功), Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲), National Development Council Deputy Minister Chiou Jiunn-rong (邱俊榮), Overseas Community Affairs Council Vice Minister Roy Yuan-Rong Leu (呂元榮) and Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chi Wen-jong (祁文中).
Bureau of Foreign Trade Director-General Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮) is to oversee the group’s daily operations.
Originally planned for establishment next month, the task force was proposed after a foreign trade strategies conference convened by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Dec. 26 last year, when Tsai said that the trade office had to strengthen its executive capabilities.
The task force began operations earlier this month after Deng sent a report to Lai for approval with a proposed plan of action and a list of members, the source said.
Members at last week’s meeting decided to create individualized plans for each of the target nations to highlight varying focuses.
For example, the nation might send agricultural experts to India to share their expertise, the source said.
Potential areas of cooperation include tourism and innovative industry development, they added.
The task force is to convene again next month and is to complement the activities of a separate task force under the National Security Council, the source said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching