Nearly 60 legislators yesterday formed the Taiwan-France Parliamentary Friendship Association to bolster ties with the EU member.
The association was launched at a ceremony at the legislature in Taipei. It is to be chaired by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應).
It includes members of the DPP, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the Taiwan People’s Party, the New Power Party, the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and independents.
KMT Legislator Wu I-ding (吳怡玎) and Taiwan Statebuilding Party Legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) are to be deputy chairs.
The promotion of diplomacy is among the most important responsibilities of a lawmaker, Tsai said, adding that the association hopes to begin exchanges with members of the French parliament next year.
French Office in Taipei director Jean-Francois Casabonne-Masonnave said he was delighted that nearly half of the lawmakers from across the political spectrum had joined the association.
He looks forward to working with them to boost bilateral ties, Casabonne-Masonnave said.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) said that France is a core member of the EU and one of Taiwan’s major trading partners.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Defense experts have warned that the ‘Shandong,’ China’s second largest aircraft carrier, poses a serious threat to eastern Taiwan’s defenses The drills conducted by the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong in the Western Pacific last week were more aimed at showcasing China’s military capabilities to the US rather than toward Taiwan, a Taiwanese defense expert said yesterday. Lin Yin-yu (林穎佑), an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, said the drills which involved dozens of warplanes sought to test China’s anti-access and area denial capabilities should the US and its allies attempt to interfere in a cross-strait conflict. Lin said that the latest Chinese drills coincided with a joint maritime exercise conducted by the US, South Korea
Thousands of bottles of Sriracha have been returned or destroyed after the discovery of excessive sulfur dioxide, a bleaching agent, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Tuesday. About 12,600 bottles totaling 9,991.8kg of the hot sauce imported from the US by Emporium Corp (河洛企業) were flagged at the border for containing illegal levels of sulfur dioxide, the FDA said in its regular border inspection announcement. Inspectors discovered 0.5g per kilogram of the common bleaching agent and preservative, higher than the 0.03g permitted, it said. As it is the first time within six months the product has been flagged, Sriracha products from
Two people were killed and another nine injured yesterday after being stung by hornets while hiking in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳), with officials warning against wearing perfume or straying from trails during the autumn to avoid the potentially deadly creatures. Seven of the hikers only sustained minor injuries after being stung along the Bafenliao Hiking Trail (八分寮) and made their way down the mountain with a guide, the New Taipei City Fire Department said. Four of them — all male — sustained more serious injuries and were assisted when leaving the mountain, the department said. Two of them, a man surnamed
CHANGES: While NCCU opened the nation’s first co-ed dorm in Mucha, a recent survey showed that Taiwanese are in favor of abolishing gender segregation at high schools National Chengchi University (NCCU) has opened a co-ed dormitory, a first in Taiwan among state-funded Taiwan universities. The 22 duplexes are at the renovated “Huanan New Village,” in Taipei City’s Mucha (木柵) area, near the NCCU campus, a school official said yesterday. Twenty-two out of 37 group applications were selected in a lottery draw to select who would be chosen to live in the units, which can either be shared by up to eight students if the unit has four bedrooms, or up to 10 students if it is a five-bedroom unit, officials said. Completed in 1964 for campus staff housing,
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