A senior postal official yesterday said that 25,000 stamps issued by the Republic of Paraguay to commemorate 45 years of diplomatic ties with Taiwan would improve understanding and enhance ties.
"Stamps, when affixed to mail and sent abroad, are the name cards of a nation. These stamps will not only improve mutual understanding but also enhance long-term relationships and bilateral ties," said the deputy director-general of the Directorate General of Postage (DGP), Huang Shui-chen (黃水成), at a ceremony held at the Postal Museum in downtown Taipei.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
The tribute from Paraguay complemented those from Costa Rica and St Kitts and Nevis, whose heads of state, President Abel Pacheco and Governor-General Cuthbert Montraville Sebastian, respectively, were received by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday.
Ceremonies marking the first day of the stamps' issue were held simultaneously in both Taipei and the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion.
Paraguayan Ambassador H.E. Ceferino Adrian Valdez Peralta and Ho Ching-shan (
DGP Director-General Cheng Wen-jan (
The stamp features a photograph of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in the center and the national flower of Paraguay and Taiwan on each side. It has value of 4,000 guarani, about NT$30.
Although the stamps are valid only in Paraguay, 10,000 have been made available for collectors in Taiwan at NT$30 each.
According to the director of the GDP's philatelic department, Young Huag-being (
Young said that by selling the stamps for Paraguay, the DGP, which will hand all revenues from the sale to the Paraguayan postal authorities, was helping the government to promote diplomatic ties with Taiwan's allies.
"Since the market for stamp collecting in Paraguay is not as big as that in Taiwan, Paraguay would be pleased if we could help them sell more stamps," he said, adding that the DGP is working on a plan to establish similar collaboration with other nations.
Paraguay is the fifth country to issue stamps to commemorate Taiwan, following Grenada in 1995, Nicaragua in 1996, the Solomon Islands in 1998 and Sao Tome and Principe in 2000.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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