The 40th annual conference of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentarians’ Union (APPU) is scheduled to take place from Aug. 10 to Aug. 12 in Taipei, marking the first time that Taiwan will host an APPU event, Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said yesterday.
The APPU, which is comprised of 21 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, is the only international parliamentary organization in which Taiwan has membership.
Other members of the organization include Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Mongolia, Laos and the Solomon Islands.
According to Wang, the upcoming meeting will focus on the theme of human security and is expected to draw nearly 100 parliamentarians from the member states.
Wang said seeking membership in international parliamentary organizations is one of the ways the Legislative Yuan can help develop the country’s foreign relations.
The opportunity to host the international conference will also allow Taiwan’s legislators to strengthen their friendships and increase exchanges with their foreign counterparts, Wang said. The participation of Taiwan’s legislators in international events will help to expand Taiwan’s presence in the international arena, giving the country an opening to free itself from the diplomatic isolation imposed by China, Wang said.
“Parliamentary diplomacy is a path that can lead Taiwan back to the international community,” Wang said.
At present, more than 50 countries have set up Taiwan friendship groups within their parliaments, while there are 34 inter-parliamentary groups in the Legislative Yuan to promote friendship with their foreign counterparts, he said. One of these groups, the Taiwan-USA Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association, is likely to visit the US in early September.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), who heads the associsation, said the visit, if realized, would focus on lobbying for Taiwan’s procurement of F-16 C/D fighters from the US. Lin said a visit to the US by Taiwanese legislators last July played a crucial part in prompting the administration of former US president George W. Bush to approve six arms sales to Taiwan in October that year.
During the visit, legislators discussed the arms issue with officials from the US Department of State and the Department of Defense, as well as with leaders of the armed services committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The discussions helped the US to resolve any doubts about Taiwan’s determination to acquire the weapon systems, Lin said.
Meanwhile, the Taiwan-Japan Exchange Association is planning to visit Japan after the conclusion of Japan’s parliamentary elections in September.
KMT Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞), who heads the group, said the association meets every year with the Japan-Republic of China Dietmen’s Council to discuss issues of bilateral concern.
He said that Japanese parliamentarians have contributed greatly to the adoption of reciprocal measures by the two sides in recent years, including the mutual visa waiver program and mutual recognition of driver’s licenses.
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
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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