A Swiss parliamentary delegation is to arrive in Taiwan on Sunday for a six-day visit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) said yesterday.
Swiss-Taiwan parliamentary friendship group copresidents Fabian Molina of the Social Democratic Party (SP) and Nicolas Walder of the Green Party are to lead a five-member delegation.
Other members of the delegation include national councilors Yves Nidegger of the Swiss People’s Party, Mustafa Atici of the SP and Leonore Porchet of the Green Party.
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
The ministry is looking forward to welcoming the cross-party delegation, the first by the group since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Liu told a news conference.
The delegation is to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Legislative Yuan Speaker You Si-kun (游錫?), Control Yuan President Chen Chu (陳菊) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), he said.
The Legislative Yuan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would hold banquets to welcome the delegation, he said.
The group would also visit the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the National Development Council, the Mainland Affairs Council, and the National Science and Technology Council, as well as the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) and sites of historical battles in Kinmen County, he said.
Molina and Walder have proposed several pro-Taiwan motions and policy suggestions at the Swiss parliament, Liu said.
Switzerland’s lower house National Council in 2021 passed with an overwhelming majority a motion to deepen its relationship with Taiwan, he said, adding that the motion was proposed by Walder.
The motion orders the council to submit a report on how Switzerland can improve ties with Taiwan in the areas of business, politics, science and culture, which the foreign ministry welcomes wholeheartedly, Liu added.
Taiwan and Switzerland are partners that share the values of democracy, freedom and human rights, he said, adding that the trip would allow the delegation to deepen its understanding of Taiwan and facilitate cooperation between the two countries.
Beijing voiced strong opposition to the visit when it was first reported last year, with Chinese Consul-General in Zurich Zhao Qinghua (趙清華) saying that such a trip would “cause chaos.”
In response, Walder said that visiting Taiwan would not undermine Switzerland’s neutrality, adding that China should not confuse visits by lawmakers and the actions taken by the Swiss Federal Council.
The trip would “symbolize our friendship and support for our Taiwanese counterparts,” he wrote on Twitter last month.
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
RSS