Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) left for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last night to observe the resumption of direct flights between Taiwan and UAE capital Abu Dhabi, and to visit local officials to press for bilateral projects.
The trip, which comes shortly after Chinese President Hu Jintao's (
Other officials in the delegation include National Security Council Deputy Secretary General Parris Chang (
The official delegation is expected to attend a China Airlines' (CAL) ceremony today in Abu Dhabi marking new direct flights. CAL has said that the new Taipei-Abu Dhabi route will meet the growing demand from Taiwanese tourists and businesspeople who want to visit the UAE.
The UAE includes seven emirates. Abu Dhabi, the emirate with the highest oil revenues, has expressed interest in developing closer ties with Taiwan in recent years, foreign ministry officials said yesterday.
"For instance, the chief of Abu Dhabi's Tourism Authority has shown a keen interest in promoting bilateral relations with Taiwan as it wants to boost Abu Dhabi's international visibility," an official who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Taipei Times yesterday.
"It is part of Abu Dhabi authorities' plan to develop the emirate in order to shorten the development gap with Dubai, another wealthy emirate of the UAE. There has always been a competitive relationship between Abu Dhabi and Dubai," the official said.
During the four-day trip, the delegation will visit local tourism and oil facilities in Abu Dhabi and take a half-day trip to Dubai. The delegation is expected to return to Taipei on Saturday.
In the past year, government officials have made frequent trips to the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries in secret, the official said. This trip represents the first time that the UAE has been willing to give a Taiwanese delegation an official, public reception.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
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