The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for commending Taiwan’s efforts in combating disinformation.
Macron on Wednesday during his “tour of France” seminars spoke about “democracy being tested by social media and algorithms” and praised Taiwan for establishing a system to combat disinformation in the face of information warfare attacks from China, the ministry said, adding that Macron said France could learn from Taiwan’s model.
The ministry thanked Macron for his commendation.
Photo: CNA
Disinformation and external interference have become common challenges for democracies across the world, it said, adding that Taiwan, having faced long-term threats from authoritarian expansion and information warfare, has gradually built societal resilience and a transparency mechanism.
Taiwan’s experience could serve as reference for international friends, it said.
The nation is willing to continue deepening cooperation with like-minded countries, including France, share methods for countering information manipulation, jointly enhance democratic resilience, and work together to combat disinformation and uphold freedom, democratic values and a rules-based international order, the ministry said.
In other news, Paraguayan Minister of Foreign Affairs Ruben Ramirez Lezcano said his country aims to become a model of friendship with Taiwan, the Legislative Yuan said yesterday.
Ramirez made the comment during a meeting on Friday with a cross-party legislative delegation, led by Deputy Legislative Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), in Asuncion, the Legislative Yuan said.
Paraguay and Taiwan are like-minded allies that put much emphasis on freedom, human rights and the rule of law, so Asuncion will continue to support Taipei in its quest to become part of international organizations, Ramirez was quoted by the legislature as saying.
The two countries complement each other — Paraguay has abundant natural resources and Taiwan has advanced technologies — so they should cooperate, Ramirez was cited as saying.
Paraguay wants to become a model of friendship with Taiwan, and would continue to work with the nation to contribute to regional stability and global peace, he said.
Chiang told Ramirez it was the first time the delegation members visited Paraguay and expressed gratitude for the warm reception of Paraguayans, who made them feel at home.
The Legislative Yuan will push for cooperation plans with Paraguay to forge closer ties between the two countries, Chiang said.
The delegation also visited the Republic of China embassy in Paraguay, and met with Taiwanese technical personnel stationed in the country as well as overseas Taiwanese in Asuncion.
They departed for Dallas on Friday afternoon, the legislature said.
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
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
Deliveries of delayed F-16V jets are expected to begin in September, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said today, after senior defense officials visited the US last week. The US in 2019 approved a US$8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the nation’s F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets, but the project has been hit by issues including software problems. Koo appeared today before a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which is discussing different versions of the special defense budget this week. The committee is questioning officials today,
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