A delegation from the Lithuanian Committee on National Security and Defense is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan for a six-day visit today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The nine-member delegation is headed by committee chairperson Laurynas Kasciunas and Lithuanian Parliamentary Group for Relations with Taiwan vice chair Dovile Sakaliene, the ministry said in a statement.
During the delegation’s stay until Saturday, its members are to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and other senior government officials including National Security Council Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄).
Photo: Reuters
They would also visit the Mainland Affairs Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of National Defense, the statement said.
The lawmakers would meet with local defense and security think tanks to discuss the cross-strait situation and exchange views on the hybrid security threat Taiwan and Europe are facing, and to gain a better understanding of Taiwan’s all-out defense program, it added.
Other members of the delegation include Lithuanian lawmakers Audronius Azubalis, Eugenijus Sabutis, Edita Rudeliene, Ieva Pakarklyte and their aides, the ministry said.
The trip comes following four deputy ministerial-level visits last year: by Lithuanian Vice Minister of the Economy and Innovation Karolis Zemaitis in September, his predecessor Jovita Neliupsiene on June 12, Vice Minister of Agriculture Egidijus Giedraitis on June 22 and Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Agne Vaiciukeviciute on Aug. 6, it said.
As Lithuania’s ties with Taiwan have improved, the Baltic state has come under heavy political and economic pressure from Beijing over the name of Taiwan’s office there — the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania.
Taiwan typically names its overseas representative offices “Taipei Economic and Cultural Office” or “Taipei Representative Office,” in keeping with the host countries’ preference to avoid any language that would imply Taiwan is a separate country from China.
Beijing has punished Lithuania for the inclusion of “Taiwanese” in the name of Taiwan’s office, seeing such moves as encouraging formal independence.
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
TALENT SCOUTING: The university is investing substantial funds in its future to bring in the kind of researchers that would keep the college internationally competitive National Taiwan University (NTU) plans to invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to launch two programs aimed at attracting and retaining top research talent, university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said yesterday. The funding would support the “Palm Grove Scholars Project,” which targets academics aged 40 to 55. Up to 20 scholars would be selected, each receiving as much as NT$10 million annually, Chen said. The initiative is designed to attract leading researchers to Taiwan and strengthen NTU’s global competitiveness by fostering a more research-friendly environment and expanding international collaboration, he said. NTU is also introducing a “Hong Hu” chair grant, which would provide Palm
RSS