Diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Australia have reached a new milestone as Taipei recently opened a representative office in Brisbane, the third-largest city in Australia, the ministry of foreign affairs said yesterday.
The newly established Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Brisbane is the fourth consular office to be opened in Australia, in addition to the ones in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne.
The latest addition to the Brisbane consular arm has made Australia the country with the third most Taiwanese representative offices, after the US and Japan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved the establishment of the economic and cultural office in Brisbane on Aug. 16 after strong support from overseas Taiwanese in Australia.
A local Taiwanese association in Queensland started a petition campaign in October, 2002 to ask the government to open a consular office in Brisbane.
There are roughly 20,000 Taiwanese residents in Brisbane, which accounts for 40 percent of the total Taiwanese expatriates in Australia, making Brisbane the largest Taiwanese hub in the country.
The director for the Brisbane representative office, James Tien (田中光), arrived in Brisbane on Dec. 9 and received a warm welcome from local government offic-ials and Taiwanese residents.
Tien, 53, formerly served in Taiwan's representative offices in Houston and Canada, as well as in the embassy of Taiwan's former ally the Kingdom of Tonga and the Trade Mission Office in Fiji Islands.
He was also once the convener of the task force for the country's World Health Organization entry bid.
Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) recently disclosed that the ministry has decided to send a former section chief of Taipei's Representative Office in Belgium, Song Zi-zheng (宋子正), to replace Cheng Shin (鄭欣) as ambassador to the Republic of Chad.
Cheng will become director of Taipei's Representative Office in Italy.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
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