GERMANY
Scholz warns China
Chancellor Olaf Scholz yesterday told parliament that he had warned China during talks earlier this week against using force to achieve territorial changes, particularly against Taiwan. Scholz this week hosted a large Chinese delegation led by Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強) in the first face-to-face summit since the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time of rising geopolitical tensions between the West and China. “We firmly reject all unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China seas by force or coercion. This is especially true for Taiwan,” Scholz said, according to prepared remarks. “We are also concerned about the human rights situation and the state of the rule of law in China,” he added.
EDUCATION
Bristol students to arrive
Thirty undergraduate students from the University of Bristol are to study Mandarin in Kaohsiung next month as part of the Turing Scheme, marking the first time the British government-funded program has supported Mandarin learning in Taiwan. The group is to arrive on Friday next week and start taking Mandarin courses on weekdays from July 3 to 28. The curriculum is to include windsurfing and maritime education field trips, local cultural experiences and visits to historic sites, the Education Division of Taiwan’s representative office in the UK said. The British government set up the Turing Scheme after dropping out of the EU’s Erasmus program following the UK’s exit from the EU in 2020. The scheme, named after mathematician Alan Turing, funds students of occupational education, college students and pupils from other educational institutes to study in foreign countries and receive professional training. The university said that the scheme would help students gain basic Mandarin skills, immerse themselves in Taiwanese culture and develop intercultural skills.
DIPLOMACY
Resignation approved
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has approved the resignation of Representative to Thailand Chuang Suo-hang (莊碩漢), the Presidential Office said late on Wednesday, less than a year since he assumed the post in Bangkok. Chuang resigned due to family reasons, a source speaking on condition of anonymity said. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) said Chuang offered his resignation in the middle of this month “over personal reasons,” a decision the ministry respects. Neither the Presidential Office nor them ministry announced a replacement for the envoy. Before assuming the post in Thailand, Chuang served as vice chairman of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council. He previously served as a Cabinet spokesman, a deputy minister of the Overseas Community Affairs Council and a Democratic Progressive Party legislator from 2005 to 2008 when the party was in opposition.
MEDIA
New CNA head announced
Minister Without Portfolio Lee Yung-te (李永得) has been appointed chairman of the Central News Agency (CNA), the Ministry of Culture said on Wednesday. Minister of Culture Shih Che (史哲) said Lee would be an ideal leader, as the national news agency prepares to mark its centenary next year. Lee served as culture minister from May 2020 until January, during which he oversaw the launch of TaiwanPlus, the nation’s first English-only video news and programming platform for an international audience.
Staff writer, with agencies
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
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