The Taiwan-Japan Relations Association (TJRA) on Friday appointed former legislative speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) as its chairman, the government-funded organization said.
The association’s directors and supervisors approved the resignation of former chairman Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) and confirmed Su as his replacement during a meeting on Friday morning, it said in a statement.
It is unclear why Chiou, 72, stepped down from the position he had held for six years. Local media have cited sources from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as saying that he resigned due to health concerns.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association via CNA
The association serves as a corresponding organization to the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, which represents Tokyo’s interests in Taipei in the absence of formal diplomatic relations.
In Friday’s meeting, Su pledged to make every effort to enhance Taiwan-Japan relations.
The 66-year-old said that during his tenure in the legislature, he was dedicated to promoting exchanges between Taiwanese and Japanese lawmakers.
He also led a legislative delegation to Japan to show that legislators across party lines cherished the nation’s ties with Japan, said Su, who was previously the Presidential Office secretary-general.
Japanese Representative to Taiwan Hiroyasu Izumi on Friday expressed online his gratitude for Chiou’s contributions to promoting the Taiwan-Japan ties.
Chiou was “an important bridge” between Tokyo and Taipei, and during his six years of service at the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association, bilateral tourism and trade reached record highs, wrote Izumi, who is also head of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association’s Taipei office.
Speaking to the Central News Agency on Friday, DPP Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) lauded Su as an excellent replacement for Chiou because of his close rapport with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) due to their years of working together.
The selection of Su to head the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association is symbolic of the importance Taiwan attaches to its relationship with Japan, Lo said.
The association is expected to play an important role in facilitating trade and security cooperation between the two nations, especially as Taiwan seeks to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, while Japan shows more concern for the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait, Lo said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS