The New Southbound Policy launched by her administration after her inauguration two years ago is bearing fruit with closer ties in terms of trade, and economic and cultural exchanges between Taiwan and nations targeted by the policy, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
In an address at the opening of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, Tsai said there have been some significant results since the policy’s launch.
For instance, in the first half of this year, Taiwan welcomed more than 41,000 students from New Southbound nations, she said, adding that the number would rise again next year as the government has set a goal of 48,000 students.
Photo: CNA
“Our young people are also choosing New Southbound countries as their study destination. Last year, the number of Taiwanese students studying in those countries increased by nearly 20 percent [compared with the previous year],” she said.
In addition, more than 4 million tourists have visited Taiwan over the past two years from New Southbound Policy nations, which is helping to forge closer people-to-people ties, she added.
Bilateral trade between Taiwan and those nations has also increased significantly, Tsai said.
“Last year alone, bilateral trade between Taiwan and New Southbound countries grew by around 15 percent year-on-year. Taiwan’s investment in those countries rose by 54 percent and approved investment from those countries in Taiwan also increased by about 15 percent,” she said.
The president said the two-day Yushan Forum, which was launched last year to promote Taiwan’s regional status and support the government’s efforts to forge a broader relationship with nations targeted by the New Southbound Policy, is a “unique platform celebrating diversity, innovation and progressive values.”
Tsai said she hopes the forum will become one of Asia’s premier events on regional affairs and cooperation.
To conclude her remarks, she borrowed a quote from former Philippine vice president Teofisto Guingona Jr, who said at last year’s inaugural Yushan Forum: “We help each other. The Philippines to help Taiwan, and Taiwan to help the Philippines.”
Tsai said the quote exemplified the spirit of the forum and the New Southbound Policy as a whole, which is “Taiwan can help Asia, and Asia can help Taiwan.”
Forty-eight speakers from 18 nations are attending the forum.
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
ACCOUNTABILITY: The incident, which occured at a Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Taichung, was allegedly caused by a gas explosion on the 12th floor Shin Kong Group (新光集團) president Richard Wu (吳昕陽) yesterday said the company would take responsibility for an apparent gas explosion that resulted in four deaths and 26 injuries at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang Store in Taichung yesterday. The Taichung Fire Bureau at 11:33am yesterday received a report saying that people were injured after an explosion at the department store on Section 3 of Taiwan Boulevard in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯). It sent 56 ambulances and 136 paramedics to the site, with the people injured sent to Cheng Ching Hospital’s Chung Kang Branch, Wuri Lin Shin Hospital, Taichung Veterans General Hospital or Chung
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘LAWFUL USE’: The last time a US warship transited the Taiwan Strait was on Oct. 20 last year, and this week’s transit is the first of US President Donald Trump’s second term Two US military vessels transited the Taiwan Strait from Sunday through early yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement, the first such mission since US President Donald Trump took office last month. The two vessels sailed south through the Strait, the ministry said, adding that it closely monitored nearby airspace and waters at the time and observed nothing unusual. The ministry did not name the two vessels, but the US Navy identified them as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the Pathfinder-class survey ship USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit from
RSS