More than 120 Malaysian expatriates gathered in Taipei on Saturday to celebrate the 46th birthday of Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, the 13th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, or king, of Malaysia.
The lavish feast, featuring homemade Malay cuisine, was hosted at the residence of the director of the Malaysian Friendship and Trade Center, Dato’ Abdullah Mohd Salleh, who led the crowd in a prayer to wish the king a healthy, long life and prosperity for all Malays in Taiwan.
The representative said the celebration was one of the most important holidays in his country to express respect and deference to the king.
Although Taiwan and Malaysia do not share diplomatic ties, he said the trade volume between the two countries continued to grow, with Taiwan now the ninth-biggest trading partner.
Approximately 10,000 Malaysians reside in Taiwan, of which 3,800 are students, he said.
Last year, more than 170,000 Taiwanese tourists visited Malaysia, a slight decrease from the 200,000 in the previous year. The representative said he expected the figure to jump back as the global economy recovers.
Starting next month, Air Asia, the Malaysia-headquartered budget travel company, and Malaysia Airlines are expected to launch two new direct flights between Taipei and Kuala Lumpur, he said.
Mizan, who is the 16th Sultan of the state of Terengganu, became king of Malaysia on Dec. 13, 2006 based on a five-year rotational constitutional monarchy system practiced among the nine Malay rulers.
Ascending the throne at the age of 44, he is the second-youngest Yang di-Pertuan Agong since the office was established in 1957.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
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Tasa Meng Corp (采盟), which runs Taiwan Duty Free, could be fined up to NT$1 million (US$30,737) after the owner and employees took center stage in a photograph with government officials and the returning Premier12 baseball champions at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Monday evening. When Taiwan’s national baseball team arrived home fresh from their World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 championship victory in Tokyo, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) was at the airport with Chinese Professional Baseball League commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) to welcome back the team. However, after Hsiao and Tsai took a photograph with the team, Tasa Meng chairwoman Ku
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