The Oxford City Council on Monday passed a motion to establish sister-city ties with a municipality in Taiwan, adding that such a move would be separate from the UK’s official recognition of China.
The motion was made by Oxford City Councilor Stephen Goddard and seconded by Oxford City Councilor Elizabeth Wade — members of the Liberal Democrats party — and passed after a proposal from Oxford City Councilor Mary Clarkson of the Labour Party to find a candidate from a grassroots-level municipality was added.
Oxford has twin city and town ties with several places in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, but not in East Asia, the motion on the council’s Web site read.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
No UK town or city is twinned with any municipality in Taiwan, it added.
Taiwan is a “vibrant and competitive democratic system [that] has allowed three peaceful transfers of power between rival parties since 2000,” it said, citing a report by Freedom House.
The city council also cited Taiwan’s achievement in containing the COVID-19 epidemic despite its proximity to China, as well as its donation of masks to the UK and European countries.
Taiwan is the UK’s second-fastest-growing export market, while the UK government is undertaking free-trade talks with Taiwanese authorities, the motion said.
The motion resolves that the Oxford City Council ask the British Cabinet to explore the possibility of negotiating a twinning agreement “with an appropriate municipality on the island of Taiwan” and “ask the leader to write to the Taiwan Representative Office in the United Kingdom to formally request their assistance in arranging this.”
The proposed ties would be separate from the UK’s official recognition of the People’s Republic of China, and Oxford is grateful for the friendship of Chinese and their contributions to the city as visitors, students and residents, it said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcomed Oxford’s proposal, saying it would help local municipalities interested in the matter to connect with Oxford, spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement.
Britain is Taiwan’s third-largest trading partner in Europe and was the biggest destination of foreign investment to Europe last year, she said.
Oxford is renowned for its history, the University of Oxford and high-tech firms, Ou said, adding that the motion would advance city-to-city and people-to-people interactions.
Additional reporting by CNA
The Grand Hotel Taipei on Saturday confirmed that its information system had been illegally accessed and expressed its deepest apologies for the concern it has caused its customers, adding that the issue is being investigated by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. The hotel said that on Tuesday last week, it had discovered an external illegal intrusion into its information system. An initial digital forensic investigation confirmed that parts of the system had been accessed, it said, adding that the possibility that some customer data were stolen and leaked could not be ruled out. The actual scope and content of the affected data
DO THEY BITE IT? Cats have better memories than people might think, but their motivation is based entirely around the chance of getting fed Cats can remember the identity of the people who fed them the day before, Taipei-based veterinarians said on Friday, debunking a popular myth that cats have a short memory. If a stray does not recognize the person who fed them the previous day, it is likely because they are not carrying food and the cat has no reason to recognize them, said Wu Chou Animal Hospital head Chen Chen-huan (陳震寰). “When cats come to a human bearing food, it is coming for the food, not the person,” he said. “The food is the key.” Since the cat’s attention is on the food, it
A New York-based NGO has launched a global initiative to rename the nation’s overseas missions, most of which operate under the name "Taipei," to "Taiwan Representative Office (TRO)," according to a news release. Ming Chiang (江明信), CEO of Hello Taiwan, announced the campaign at a news conference in Berlin on Monday, coinciding with the World Forum held from Monday through Wednesday, the institution stated in the release. Speaking at the event, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷) said she believed this renaming campaign would enable the international community to see Taiwan
TOO DANGEROUS: The families agreed to suspend crewed recovery efforts that could put rescuers in danger from volcanic gases and unstable terrain The bodies of two Taiwanese tourists and a Japanese pilot have been located inside a volcanic crater, Japanese authorities said yesterday, nearly a month after a sightseeing helicopter crashed during a flight over southwestern Japan. Drone footage taken at the site showed three bodies near the wreckage of the aircraft inside a crater on Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture, police and fire officials said. The helicopter went missing on Jan. 20 and was later found on a steep slope inside the Nakadake No. 1 Crater, about 50m below the rim. Authorities said that conditions at the site made survival highly unlikely, and ruled
RSS