Former Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis is making his first visit to Taiwan from yesterday through Thursday, during which he would meet with President William Lai (賴清德) and receive a government honor to recognize his contributions in promoting closer ties between the two countries.
During his five-day stay in Taiwan, Landsbergis, the top Lithuanian diplomat from December 2020 until November last year, would receive the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon from Lai, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a press release.
The honor recognizes outstanding contributions to the development of the nation and can be given to Taiwanese as well as foreign nationals.
Photo: CNA
Landsbergis would also speak at National Taiwan University (NTU) on Wednesday afternoon on the topic of “Prospects for Lithuania-Taiwan Relations and the Lessons of Russia’s War on Ukraine,” according to an NTU announcement.
MOFA called Landsbergis a “staunch supporter” of Taiwan during his tenure as Lithuanian foreign minister. Under his leadership, the Baltic state donated COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan and allowed Taiwan to open a representative office in Vilnius under the name “Taiwanese.”
Landsbergis also published opinion pieces in international media calling on global support of Taiwan during China’s military exercises surrounding it in 2022, following the visit of then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, MOFA added.
Landsbergis was also the chair of the Homeland Union (Lithuanian Christian Democrats) from 2015 until he stepped down from the post after his party lost the parliamentary runoff election in late October to Lithuania’s opposition Social Democratic Party.
Separately, another Lithuanian delegation, led by Vilmantas Vitkauskas, vice-chancellor and the head of the National Crisis Management Center of the Chancellery of the Lithuanian government, and Vilijus Samuila, acting director of the Communication and Cultural Diplomacy Department of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, is visiting Taiwan from yesterday through Saturday.
The two officials are leading a delegation of five non-governmental organization experts specialized in foreign information manipulation and interference to conduct exchanges on counter-disinformation practices with Taiwan, MOFA said in a separate press release.
The group is the first delegation led by Lithuanian officials to visit Taiwan since the Baltic state formed a new government late last year, it added.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
RSS