Legislators yesterday inaugurated six new associations, including parliamentary friendship groups with Turkish, European, Latin American and Austronesian legislatures.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lai Hui-yuan (賴惠員) led the effort to found the Taiwan-Turkiye Parliamentary Amity Association and is to serve as chairwoman.
The association would seek to bolster existing friendship and cooperation between the two sides, while looking to enhance tourism with more weekly direct flights, Lai told an event at the legislature in Taipei.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Turkish Representative to Taiwan Muhammed Berdibek was the guest of honor, along with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hsieh Wu-chiao (謝武樵) and six other DPP legislators, including Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑), Michelle Lin (林楚茵) and Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱).
In her address, Lai said that the two countries have long-standing collaboration in business, trade, agriculture technology and exports, reaching US$6 billion in total trade value last year.
“We look forward to expanding trade and cooperation in business, science and technology, and agriculture, as well as enhancing
tourism for more Taiwanese to visit the beautiful country of Turkey,” Lai said, adding that she plans to travel there with other legislators in July or August this year.
Berdibek welcomed the visit by legislators and all Taiwanese, saying the whole country is open for tourism.
There are four direct flights weekly between Taiwan and Istanbul, which serves as the hub to other regions of the country, he said.
“We look forward to expanding the tourism sector, but also for more trade between our countries and cooperation in other sectors,” he said.
He mentioned a number of sister-city arrangements and university science and technology programs, as well as Turkish students coming to Taiwan for degree programs and technical training.
Lai said that although Taiwan and Turkey are geographically far apart, “citizens in both countries cherish peace and democracy in pursuit of progress... So we are natural partners and supportive friends on the world stage.”
When Taiwan experienced the Jiji Earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999, Turkey immediately sent its “AKUT” rescue team to arrive in Taiwan the next day as the first international unit to arrive, Lai said.
“Last year when southern Turkey was hit by a devastating earthquake, more than 16,000 Taiwanese donated to the cause, sending more than 400 tonnes of goods, more than NT$900 million (US$28.6 million), more than 100 trained rescue workers and five sniffer dogs for assistance," she added.
The amity group could promote closer links between parliamentarians of both countries for cooperation between government departments to meet the challenges of a globalized world, Lai said.
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
The cosponsors of a new US sanctions package targeting Russia on Thursday briefed European allies and Ukraine on the legislation and said the legislation would also have a deterrent effect on China and curb its ambitions regarding Taiwan. The bill backed by US senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal calls for a 500 percent tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports — targeting nations such as China and India, which account for about 70 percent of Russia’s energy trade, the bankroll of much of its war effort. Graham and Blumenthal told The Associated Press
INTEL: China’s ships are mapping strategic ocean floors, including near Guam, which could aid undersea cable targeting and have military applications, a report said China’s oceanographic survey and research ships are collecting data in the Indo-Pacific region — possibly to aid submarine navigation, detect or map undersea cables, and lay naval mines — activities that could have military applications in a conflict with Taiwan or the US, a New York Times report said. The article, titled “China Surveys Seabeds Where Naval Rivals May One Day Clash,” was written by Chris Buckley and published on Thursday. Starboard Maritime Intelligence data revealed that Chinese research ships last year repeatedly scanned the ocean floor east of Taiwan’s maritime border, and about 400km east and west of Guam; “waters that