Taiwan’s “orchid diplomacy” has helped raise the international profile of the country, Katharine Chang (張小月), Taiwan’s top representative to the UK, said yesterday.
Taiwan’s achievements in London at the recently concluded Chelsea Flower Show, one of the world’s most famous floral extravaganzas, have raised international awareness of the country and created greater business -opportunities, Chang said.
“During the fair, Taiwan’s orchids were widely reported on in the British media, which demonstrated the success of Taiwan’s soft power in participating in the international community,” Chang said.
Furthermore, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, who was quite impressed when she visited Taiwan’s pavilion at last year’s show, was full of praise again this year, Chang said.
The Royal Horticultural Society arranged for the queen to view Taiwan’s display this year and she stayed for five minutes, Chang said.
The queen was also pleased when she was presented with a new species of orchid called Doritaenopsis Elizabeth II, Chang said.
The species is based on Doritaenopsis Sin-Yuan Golden Beauty and Pinlong Chris, a very popular type of orchid in Europe.
In its second year at the show, Taiwan won a gold medal. Last year, it won a silver medal.
More than 650 exhibitors from 16 countries participated in the show at the Royal Hospital in -London this year. Next year’s show is scheduled to take place at the same venue from May 22 to May 30.
“Taiwan will continue to present new designs and to tighten relations with the UK,” Chang said in response to questions about her projections for next year’s show.
Taiwan is known as the “Kingdom of Orchids” because it is the world’s largest exporter of the plants, which had an export value of around US$117.54 million last year.
Orchids are one of Taiwan’s major exports, accounting for more than 78 percent of the total value of the country’s horticultural exports.
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