A Swedish parliamentary delegation arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a visit aimed at enhancing relations between the nations.
The 11-member delegation, led by Boriana Aberg, head of the Swedish-Taiwanese parliamentarian friendship group, and Member of the European Parliament Charlie Weimers, touched down at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5:23pm.
The group was welcomed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Tseng (曾厚仁). They greeted reporters at the airport, but did not make a statement before leaving.
Photo: EPA-EFE / Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The delegation was originally set to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at the Presidential Office tomorrow, but they are instead to meet virtually, as Tsai is in home quarantine, which she started on Friday after a person she dined with on Monday last week tested positive for COVID-19.
Vice President William Lai (賴清德) is to receive the visitors at the Presidential Office later tomorrow on Tsai’s behalf, Presidential Office spokesperson Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said.
Other members of the delegation include Kerstin Lundgren, deputy speaker of the Swedish Parliament, and Swedish lawmakers Bjorn Soder, Lars Adaktusson, Markus Wiechel, Ann-Sofie Alm, Lars Puss and Alexander Christiansson, among others, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Taiwan has become an increasingly familiar topic on the floor of the Riksdag. In 2019, multiple motions and written requests were made urging Stockholm to pay attention to Taiwan’s 2020 presidential election and formally congratulate the winner.
Aberg three years ago proposed a motion urging the government to support Taiwan’s participation in international organizations.
Then-Swedish prime minister Stefan Lofven in March last year declared in parliament that Taiwan should participate in the WHO.
During a question-and-answer session last month, Wiechel called on his government to enhance diplomatic relations with Taiwan, including by giving its representative office status equal to other countries’ embassies.
Additional reporting by Lu Yi-hsuan
Netflix on Wednesday said it is to charge NT$100 more per month for each user that is not part of the same household. Under the plan, the streaming service is to limit viewership to people who live in the same household. If a member wishes to add people outside of their address, they must pay NT$100 more per person every month. No additional viewers can be added to the NT$270 per month “basic” account. “Standard” accounts (NT$330) can add one user, while “premium” (NT$390) accounts can add two users. The company has said that people in the same household would still be able
PRESSURE POINT: Beijing might seek to lean on Musk to prevent his SpaceX from providing Taiwan access to its Starlink satellite system, ‘The Economist’ said Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) called out Elon Musk on Twitter, saying the value of democracy transcends that of money after the Tesla CEO said that China was likely to “integrate” Taiwan. Asked in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday last week if “China would make a move to take control of Taiwan,” Musk said that “the official policy of China is that Taiwan should be integrated... One does not need to read between the lines.” “There is a certain inevitability to the situation,” he added. “That is their policy, and I think you should take their word seriously,” Musk said. Regarding
VIGILANCE: The mask mandate would remain in effect at healthcare facilities, healthcare-related institutes and senior welfare facilities due to high infection risks there The mask mandate would be extended next month for three types of venues, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday as it reported that the average daily number of hospitalized COVID-19 cases increased by more than 30 percent last week. Local COVID-19 cases last week rose to an average of 204 daily hospitalizations, an increase of 32.5 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. The number of prescriptions for oral anti-viral drugs to treat COVID-19 also increased to 23,503 courses — 17,424 courses of Paxlovid and 6,079 courses of molnupiravir. The average positivity rate
GROWING FAST: China continues to outpace the US in its production and commissioning of ships, as it seeks to expand ‘far seas operations,’ an ex-US Navy captain said China continued to increase its naval capacity last year, indicating that it is seeking to bolster its ability to invade Taiwan, a retired US Navy captain said. In an article published in this month’s issue of the US Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine, retired US Navy Captain James Fanell wrote that China commissioned 10 warships and one submarine last year, and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) was continuing to commission the most annual tonnage globally, as it has done for at least the past five years. The PLAN is also outproducing the US Navy in total number of ships, tonnage and