The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it supports the sister-city proposal between Taipei and Prague and is willing to help, after the Taipei City Council on Friday shelved the plan due to objections from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) councilors over Taiwan’s name.
Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib met Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) at a smart city summit in March, when Hrib expressed the hope that a sister-city deal could be signed.
Hrib, who became mayor in November last year, last month ended a sister-city deal with Beijing over its refusal to remove the “one China” principle from that agreement.
Photo: Chen Ching-min, Taipei Times
The Taipei City Council’s civil affairs committee on Friday failed to reach an agreement on the city government’s proposal to establish official sister-city ties with the Czech Republic’s capital.
Taipei City Government Deputy Secretary-General Hsueh Chuen-ming (薛春明) and Taipei City Government spokesman Tom Chou (周台竹) presented the proposal, including an English-language document titled Agreement Between the City of Prague, Czech Republic, and the City of Taipei, Taiwan, on the Establishment of Sister City Relationship, for the committee to review.
However, KMT Taipei City Councilor Wang Hao (王浩) said that the nation’s official name is not “Taiwan,” so the agreement should use “the city of Taipei” and “Republic of China.”
City Councilor Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元), an independent, said that the agreement should stick with the names it has used for the past 20 years, as “city of Taipei” used alone would avoid constitutional debates.
People First Party Taipei City Councilor Lin Kuo-cheng (林國成) said he agreed that the nation’s name could be excluded.
The agreement has passed a review at the Prague City Council, meaning any change to the documentation would have to be examined again by Prague, Democratic Progressive Party Councilor Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said.
“Why does Taipei have to reject ‘Taiwan’ when Prague has accepted it?” Liang asked.
The committee shelved the proposal and asked the city government to revise it, with reference to its previous sister-city deals.
Given Taiwan’s difficult situations on the global stage, it is a rare opportunity that a foreign city is willing to establish ties with Taipei, Ko told the council.
The Taipei City Government would communicate with its council while keeping a low profile, otherwise Beijing might seek to spoil the deal, he said.
Unpredictable situations might arise if the council shelves the agreement, said Chou, who is a former representative to the Netherlands.
Ko is to lead a delegation to Prague and other east European cities in January, he said.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement that the ministry was not involved in negotiations between Taipei and Prague.
Nonetheless, the ministry supports local governments’ international interactions that uphold mutual benefit and respect, she said.
It supports Taipei and Prague signing a sister-city agreement and would continue offering assistance in a bid to deepen the bilateral friendship between the two nations, she said.
Additional reporting by Lee I-chia
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS