Lawmakers yesterday passed a resolution recommending that "Taiwan" in Roman script be printed above "Passport" on the cover of nation's passports, alongside the country's formal designation, Republic of China (ROC).
The resolution was aimed at overturning the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' decision in January, which stated that "Issued in Taiwan" would be placed at the bottom of the nation's passport covers beginning in November.
DPP Legislator Trong Chai (
The decision was meant to prevent the ROC from being mistaken for the PRC, but it has instead further confused the relationship between China and Taiwan, according to Chai.
Adding "Issued in Taiwan" would denigrate Taiwan's national status because it leads people to think that Taiwan is a regional government of China, similar to the relationship between Hong Kong and Beijing, Chai said.
The DPP lawmaker added that the addition of "Issued in Taiwan" does not follow international practice and considers the proposal to add "Taiwan" above "Passport" to be a more pragmatic approach.
Chai stressed that the change would not alter Taiwan's official title.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Katharine Chang (
The decision announced in January has triggered a mixed response in Taiwan.
Some said it would be a great stride forward for the nation to see "Issued in Taiwan" printed on passport covers, but critics of the decision, such as Chai, argued that the move would belittle Taiwan's national status.
While China has denounced the plan as a step toward independence, opinion polls suggest a majority of Taiwanese support the idea.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A pro-Russia hacker group has launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Taiwanese government in retaliation for President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments suggesting that China should have a territorial dispute with Russia, an information security company said today. The hacker group, NoName057, recently launched an HTTPs flood attack called “DDoSia” targeting Taiwanese government and financial units, Radware told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). Local tax bureaus in New Taipei City, Keelung, Hsinchu and Taoyuan were mentioned by the hackers. Only the Hsinchu Local Tax Bureau site appeared to be down earlier in the day, but was back
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
RSS