Lithuanian Minister of the Economy and Innovation Ausrine Armonaite hopes to open a trade office in Taiwan this year, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported yesterday.
Armonaite said that opening representative offices in new markets is part of her mission as minister, because Lithuania is an export-driven economy, Deutsche Welle reported.
A shortage of microchips in Lithuania and other European countries is another reason for the need to establish a closer trade relationship with Taiwan, a key manufacturer of semiconductors, the report said.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Establishing a trade office in Taiwan — which she hoped would happen in October or November — is not solely about trade, it also reflects the friendship that Taiwan and Lithuania established in the early 1990s, the report said.
Taiwan supported Lithuania and other Baltic states in their transition to liberal democracies and market economies, the report cited her as saying, adding that she thanked Taiwan for donating 100,000 masks to Lithuania at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On issues relating to China, Armonaite told Deutsche Welle that it is important to pay attention to what is happening in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet and other places.
“Some of the news that reaches us doesn’t go in line with human rights approaches,” she said. “This is something we can’t ignore and that’s why we are trying to build more economic relations with a diverse range of countries and regions.”
The proposal to open a trade office in Taiwan was reported by Lithuanian media in March.
Lithuanian media reports have said recently that its parliament is amending laws to allow the establishment of trade missions in countries with which Lithuania has no diplomatic ties.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Joanne Ou (歐江安) said that the ministry welcomes Lithuania’s intention to expand cooperation with Taiwan, including its plan to set up a trade office in Taiwan and to amend laws to pave the way for that to happen.
Ou thanked Lithuania for its pledge on June 22 to donate 20,000 AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique