Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is to lead a group of students from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation’s academy to China on Beijing’s invitation from Wednesday next week to Dec. 26, foundation chief executive Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said today.
The group is planning to attend a winter-themed cross-strait youth festival in Harbin and visit Chengdu in Sichuan Province, Hsiao said.
Following the Chinese student and faculty group the foundation recently invited to Taiwan, Ma is now to lead Taiwanese students to visit China, he said.
Photo: Lin Hsin-ying, Taipei Times
As cross-strait relations reach a crucial moment amid rising global tensions, Ma is taking concrete action to promote cross-strait exchanges between young people, Hsiao said.
Ma aims to build a bridge of peace between both sides, overcome political difficulties and convey the public’s desire for cross-strait interactions, he added.
As more young people from across the Strait interact and understand each other, future conflicts become less likely, Hsiao said.
Although the foundation is a private organization, it helps the government promote cross-strait exchanges by organizing several annual trips for young people in China and Taiwan, he said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on 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
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
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