The annual Taipei-Shanghai forum is to be held virtually for the second consecutive year on Wednesday next week, with discussions to focus on cultural exchanges and the post-pandemic economy, the Taipei City Government said yesterday.
Taipei and Shanghai, given the quarantine measures in place on either side of the Taiwan Strait, agreed to have an online forum again this year, the city government said in a statement.
The forum, which has the theme “New Economy and New Development,” is to feature talks on the digital transformation in industries after the emergence of COVID-19, as well as talks on museums and architecture.
The two cities plan to sign a memorandum of understanding covering cooperation on zoos, Chinese orchestras and technological innovation, the city government said.
It quoted Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) as saying that exchanges between the two cities have always been based on shared values such as mutual understanding, mutual respect and mutual cooperation.
The mayor believes that the two cities should carry on dialogues and exchanges to build goodwill and promote mutual trust, it added.
STILL SEEKING ACCEPTANCE: US agencies other than the Department of Homeland Security agree that Taiwan should be included in the US border preclearance program Washington rejected Taiwan’s application to join the US border preclearance program because it aims to first prioritize areas with a greater security threat, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan is still pursuing membership. Taiwan in 2020 applied to set up a US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) preclearance facility at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, meant to expedite travel to the US by allowing passengers to submit to immigration and customs inspections before boarding their flight. However, the CBP last year rejected the application. At a routine hearing of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Wu
PRIORITIZING HEALTH: Chen Shih-chung and a KMT lawmaker had a heated exchange about COVID-19 deaths and food imports from five Japanese prefectures The government expects soon to sign a deal for additional doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday. “We are discussing a new contract” to obtain more doses of the vaccine and it is “likely to be finalized soon,” Chen, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), told a news briefing, when asked how many doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are left. Concern has been raised over supply of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine ahead of a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Thursday next week to discuss whether to authorize booster
The Economic Democracy Union yesterday urged the government to establish regulatory control measures for Shopee capital to deter Chinese economic influence in Taiwan. Civic groups are calling for Shopee to commission licensed electronic payment services to handle all transactions on its platform, as the current situation is unfair to certified services and the platform lacks consumer guarantees, Economic Democracy Union researcher Hsu Kuan-tze (許冠澤) said. The Investment Commission’s performance cannot compete with the US Committee on Foreign Investment, which plays a critical role in overseeing US national and economic security, union convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) said. Despite the success of the 2014 Sunflower
Kaohsiung authorities have arrested five people and seized almost 1,000 pouches containing a mix of narcotics, while 29 Vietnamese migrant workers are facing separate charges after allegedly being found in possession of drugs at a party. Kaohsiung police officials yesterday said that reports had been received that a crime ring had set up a call center to respond to online adverts for narcotics and was delivering the goods using taxis. After surveilling the operation, police arrested four drivers and arrested a man surnamed Hsu (徐) in a rented building in Kaohsiung’s Singsin District (新興). “Hsu was in charge of the place. It was