Taiwan plans to hold a regional forum on securing religious freedom next year, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) told the third Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief in a recorded speech on Monday.
First launched by the US Department of State in 2018, the ministerial was held in Washington in 2018 and last year, while this year’s was hosted online by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of North American Affairs Director-General Douglas Hsu (徐佑典) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
Taiwan has been invited to the ministerial in all three years, Hsu said.
Monday’s ministerial was opened by Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the schedule on the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site showed.
Yesterday’s session for non-governmental organizations was opened by Polish Secretary of State for Legal and Treaty Affairs, the UN, Consular and Parliamentary Affairs Piotr Wawrzyk and US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Samuel Brownback, it showed.
“While many countries have been occupied fighting COVID-19, authoritarian regimes have used the opportunity to impose their will on religious minorities,” Wu said in his speech, referring to the displacement, physical abuse and emotional torture experienced in Xinjiang by Uighurs and other Muslims.
“Here in Taiwan, religious freedom is enshrined in our Constitution and has become part of our daily life,” he said, adding that Taiwan stands with like-minded partners to defend the freedom to believe and to help victims of intolerance.
At the end of his speech, Wu announced the ministry’s plan to host a regional forum on securing religious freedom next year, saying it is “to show that we care about what is happening in other parts of the world.”
Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom Pusin Tali also attended the online ministerial, while Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) gave a speech at the International Religious Freedom Roundtable yesterday, Hsu said.
In related news, the Mainland Affairs Council on Monday announced that it has commissioned the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy to cohost with the US Heritage Foundation an online forum today titled “US-Taiwan Partnership in Challenging Times.”
Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) is to deliver a speech at the forum calling for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, the council said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS