The Swiss National Council on Wednesday passed a motion calling on the nation to sign an agreement with Taiwan to deepen collaboration in science, technology, innovation and culture.
The lower house of Switzerland’s parliament deliberated and adopted the bill submitted in 2022 by former Swiss national councilor Mustafa Atici in a vote of 96 in favor, 86 against and nine abstentions.
The bill aims to encourage and boost friendly relations between Taiwan and Switzerland, as well as deepen collaboration.
Photo: AP
It calls for a partnership agreement to be signed by the Trade Office of Swiss Industries in Taipei and the Cultural and Economic Delegation of Taipei in Switzerland.
In addition to collaboration between universities and research institutions in the two nations, a “solid institutional framework, in the form of an institutionalized partnership” is necessary to unlock the full potential that exists between the two sides in the interest of both parties, it says.
Deepening the relationship with Taiwan “can contribute to greater peace and stability in the world,” as “science diplomacy can help us meet the challenges of the 21st century,” the bill says.
It underlines the importance of developing the Swiss global network, in which “Taiwan has the potential to become one of the new major sites.”
Taiwan and Switzerland are “highly innovative, open economies that have a lot to offer,” especially in technology and research, said Swiss National Councilor Fabian Molina, who has taken over Atici’s motion after he lost his re-election bid in October last year.
The bill would help diversify Switzerland’s trade relations in Asia, improve the country’s economic and political relationship with Taiwan, and boost cooperation between democracies, Molina said.
However, Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin said that existing exchanges between Swiss and Taiwanese universities and institutions, as well as Swiss scholarship and subsidy programs, already “make it possible to achieve the objectives set” as he asked for the bill to be rejected.
The bill is to be sent to the Swiss Council of States, the upper house, for deliberation and voting.
Separately, the Wisconsin State Assembly passed a bill to reaffirm the US state’s commitment to ties with and support for Taiwan.
Taiwan shares the values of freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law, peace and prosperity with the US and Wisconsin, the bill says.
It urges Wisconsin to support the signing of a trade agreement between Taiwan and the US, as it is “an important step toward further strengthening bilateral trade” between the two sides by stimulating bilateral investment and collaboration through tariff reduction and other trade facilitation measures.
Wisconsin should also continue to back Taiwan’s participation in international organizations and “Taiwan’s aspiration to make more contributions in international societies,” it says.
Taiwan is capable of and willing to “collaborate with the world to face challenges such as humanitarian aid and disease control,” it says.
The bill was introduced in the State Assembly on Feb. 16, adopted on Thursday last week and sent to the Senate Organization Committee of the Wisconsin State Senate on Monday.
PREPAREDNESS: Given the difficulty of importing ammunition during wartime, the Ministry of National Defense said it would prioritize ‘coproduction’ partnerships A newly formed unit of the Marine Corps tasked with land-based security operations has recently replaced its aging, domestically produced rifles with more advanced, US-made M4A1 rifles, a source said yesterday. The unnamed source familiar with the matter said the First Security Battalion of the Marine Corps’ Air Defense and Base Guard Group has replaced its older T65K2 rifles, which have been in service since the late 1980s, with the newly received M4A1s. The source did not say exactly when the upgrade took place or how many M4A1s were issued to the battalion. The confirmation came after Chinese-language media reported
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty. Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month. The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing. The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said. Sun made the remarks when
BROAD AGREEMENT: The two are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff to 15% and a commitment for TSMC to build five more fabs, a ‘New York Times’ report said Taiwan and the US have reached a broad consensus on a trade deal, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said yesterday, after a report said that Washington is set to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent. The New York Times on Monday reported that the two nations are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent and commit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to building at least five more facilities in the US. “The agreement, which has been under negotiation for months, is being legally scrubbed and could be announced this month,” the paper said,
RSS