Taiwanese legislators have been led by Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) in holding tasting events to promote the sale of Lithuanian rum, as the first batch has arrived.
State-run Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp (TTL) first delivered some of the Propeller brand dark rum made by the Lithuania-based MV Group Production to the Legislative Yuan so that You could hold tasting events for officials and the media.
TTL has said that the rum is to be sold from Tuesday next week, in time for the Lunar New Year.
Photo: CNA
“Lithuania is not afraid to stand up to China’s threats and show strong support for Taiwan, after Beijing used its ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy with economic sanctions to bully several democratic nations,” You said.
“Because we are so touched by Lithuania’s determination to protect freedom and democracy, our lawmakers will take concrete action to support Lithuania,” he added.
You said that in his role as legislative speaker, he ordered the first batch of rum from TTL to show that Taiwanese “are in solidarity with Lithuania, standing united in our effort to fight China’s bullying and authoritarian ways.”
At tasting events on Tuesday and yesterday, You called the Propeller dark rum “Democracy Rum.”
You’s staff mixed sips of the rum with lemon juice and cola — as “rum punch” — in small plastic cups to show the nation one of the popular ways that Democracy Rum can be enjoyed with family and friends during the holiday.
Members of the media who tasted the rum punch said that it has a pleasant, sweet taste, and went down smoothly.
TTL officials said that they were notified on Dec. 18 by the Ministry of Finance and Representative to Lithuania Eric Huang (黃鈞耀) that a batch of Lithuanian rum scheduled to arrive in China on Dec. 29 could face hurdles with customs because China had reportedly in November removed Lithuania from its list of origin nations, virtually blocking any cargo from Lithuania from entering the nation.
The company purchased the whole shipment of 20,400 bottles as a show of support for the Baltic nation, which faced increasing political and economic pressure from Beijing to punish it after it allowed Taipei to open the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania in Vilnius in November.
TTL Chairman Ting Yen-che (丁彥哲) said that the first 6,000 bottles have been priced at NT$600 apiece and would be placed in the company’s outlets across the nation and at some TTL-authorized sellers from Tuesday next week.
FamilyMart would also start preorder sales, TTL said.
Additional reporting with CNA
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS