Two new groups were formed yesterday to promote parliamentary ties between Taiwan and the UK and France.
The "Taiwan-Britain Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association" (
"Through these associations, we hope to enhance mutual understanding as well as strengthen our bilateral parliamentary interactions with parliamentarians in UK and France," Chang said yesterday at the inauguration of the two associations.
PHOTO: LIU HSING-TEH, TAIPEI TIMES
Chang said that parliamentary diplomatic work carry out by the two groups could also help to broaden Taiwan's diplomatic circle.
"Because we [legislators] can visit countries, places and meet with certain persons in other countries that normally our national leaders are restricted from owing to Taiwan's unique situa-tion," Chang said.
The lawmaker said approximately 30 legislators from across party lines have said they would become members.
KMT Legislator Tsai Chia-fu (蔡家福) is deputy chairman for the "Taiwan-Britain Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association" while the TSU's John Wang (王政中) and PFP's Lin Teh-fu (林德福) are deputy chairmen of the "Taiwan-France Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association."
Chang, convener of the legislature's Foreign and Overseas Chi-nese Committee, said that the groups would focus on activities that serve the purpose in promoting mutual interaction between legislators in Taiwan and the two European countries.
"For example," Chang said, "we will work to coordinate Taiwanese business or cultural groups going to the UK and France for visits as well as invite influential British and French figures and parliamentarians to Taiwan to take part in seminars, public hearings to help improve general understanding and interaction."
Chang said association mem-bers are planning to travel to the UK and France during the next legislature recess in January.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the
RSS