Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫?) yesterday met with a group of visiting Japanese lawmakers at an event that highlighted the solidarity between the nations in countering China’s bid for hegemony in the Indo-Pacific region.
Japanese lawmakers Keiji Furuya and Minoru Kihara led the delegation of the Japan-Republic of China Diet Members’ Consultative Council, which arrived in Taiwan on Monday and was scheduled to depart yesterday evening.
Taiwanese lawmakers of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the New Power Party and the Taiwan People’s Party also attended the meeting at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
You said he was happy to meet the Japanese delegation face-to-face after working with their group over teleconference during the launch of the Taiwan-Japan Parliamentary Amity Association and the Taiwan-US-Japan Strategic Dialogue last year.
You also expressed his condolences over the passing of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who he called a tireless friend of Taiwan, especially when the nation faced adversity.
Taiwanese were moved by Abe’s remark that “a Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency,” he said, adding that the late Japanese leader has laid a firm foundation for the nations to boost their bilateral relations, he said.
Beijing’s policies are guided by internal repression and external expansion, he said, citing China’s military drills around Taiwan early this month, and China and the Solomon Islands in May striking a security pact.
“These actions by China to extend its reach not only increases tensions in the Indo-Pacific region, but also constitute an immense threat to global peace that is worrying,” he said, adding that Taiwan must look to strengthening its defenses to protect itself.
Taiwan expresses its gratitude to Japan, the US and other democracies for taking a stand in recent diplomatic events including the US-Japan Economic Policy Consultative Committee and a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Indonesia to condemn Beijing’s saber rattling, he said.
Taiwan thanks Japan for its generous support for maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, especially as the international order confronts the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the challenge posed by China to the world’s democracies, he said
The legislature agrees with Japan’s strategic vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, and welcomes the broadening of parliamentary exchanges between the two countries, he said.
Taiwan is grateful to Japan’s donation of vaccines during a local COVID-19 outbreak last year, and Taiwanese lawmakers look forward to working with their colleagues in Japan to enhance bilateral ties, he 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