Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Wednesday night departed for the Czech Republic and several other countries in Europe, after making low-profile trips to Japan and the Philippines.
Lin made the Czech Republic his first stop in Europe as the two countries have developed close diplomatic and economic relations over the past few years, an exclusive report by the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) showed.
Lin and Minister of Culture Li Yuan (李遠) yesterday attended the opening ceremony of “One Hundred Selected Masterpieces of the National Palace Museum and Their Stories” at the National Museum in Prague.
Photo: Taipei Times
Deputy Legislative Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) also led a legislative delegation to the ceremony.
The exhibition is part of events under the “European Taiwan Cultural Year” that Lin and Li jointly promoted.
It is the first time that the National Palace Museum has exhibited its cultural artifacts — including the iconic Jadeite Cabbage With Insects (翠玉白菜) sculpture and Along the River During the Qingming Festival (清明上河圖), a handscroll painting — in the Czech Republic.
Photo courtesy of the National Palace Museum
The exhibition was made possible following amendments passed by Czech parliament.
Lin was reportedly scheduled to meet with Czech politicians, although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was assessing whether details of the meetings would be made public.
Lin’s trip to Europe was described as an exchange between the two countries in the fields of economy, trade, technology and culture at higher government levels, a source familiar with the matter said.
Photo courtesy of the National Palace Museum
Similar to his visits to Japan and the Philippines over the past few months, Lin did not disclose the itinerary of the European trip in advance and accepted all the arrangements made with the countries he had planned to visit to avoid interference from Beijing.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on Wednesday criticized the National Palace Museum’s exhibition in Prague, saying that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government is using it to advocate Taiwanese independence and remove Chinese influence from Taiwan.
“Desinicization is never a problem in Taiwan, whether the country is governed by the DPP or the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT),” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “China launched the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s that was aimed at destroying Chinese culture, while Taiwan helped preserve the essential content of Chinese culture and customs.”
Photo courtesy of National Palace Museum
The Mazu Grand Ancestral Temple on Meizhou Island in China’s Fujian Province is a major pilgrimage site for devotees from across China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, he said.
The temple was nearly destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and would not have been rebuilt if it were not for generous donations from Taiwanese, he said.
The temple, now managed by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism, charges visitors for entry, he added.
The National Palace Museum’s exhibition in Prague is a cultural exchange, as was the case when it organized exhibitions in France and other countries, Liang said.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS