Taiwan’s high investments and frequent cultural exchanges with Southeast Asian countries are two powerful bargaining chips in its quest to join ASEAN, Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) said yesterday, adding that recent improvements in cross-strait relations presented a prime chance for Taiwan to forge closers tie with the region.
Siew made the remarks at an ASEAN taskforce meeting convened by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday. The meeting included senior officials from different government agencies, including the National Security Council and the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
“The influence of Taiwanese businesspeople [in Southeast Asia] is limitless,” he said, adding that Taiwan is ASEAN’s third-largest trading partner and its business presence in these countries has helped bolster local economies and foreign deposits by providing employment opportunities.
The large number of foreign workers from ASEAN countries in Taiwan also gives Taiwan a leverage in negotiating for increased participation in the region, Siew said.
Taiwan, he said, must catch the wave of ASEAN’s rapid economic development, especially as it is set to become a common market next year.
Siew said his relations with ASEAN countries stem back 42 years ago when he served as representative to Malaysia.
During his stint, he said, he witnessed the formation of a coalition of nations whose original purpose was to serve as a peacekeeping group to ensure harmony in the region and reduce confrontation between Malaysia and Indonesia.
Four decades later, ASEAN has metamorphosed from a security group to a powerful economic entity and Taiwan must take advantage of this transformation by jumping at the chance to forge ties with the group, he said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS