The Netherlands’ envoy to Taiwan, Menno Goedhart, yesterday said that he and his wife have decided to make Taiwan their home after he retires.
At the launch of his book The Real Taiwan and the Dutch at Fort Provintia in Tainan, Goedhart said he and his wife would resettle in Tainan County’s Sinhua Township (新化) when his tenure as the Netherlands’ top envoy to Taiwan ends later this year.
TRACING THE PAST
Over the past eight years, Goedhart has visited almost every corner of Taiwan to trace the footprints of his ancestors who ruled Taiwan between 1524 and 1662.
During that period, some citizens of Holland married local Aborigines, mostly from the Rukai tribe.
Goedhart, who has built a close friendship with the Rukai people, has been given the title of “elder” by the tribe in Sandimen Township (三地門), Pingtung County.
He is one of two foreigners on whom the Rukai have bestowed the title, the first being a Dutchman who was given the honor in the early 20th century.
SCENIC AREAS
Goedhart’s book, published in Chinese and English, features many scenic areas of Taiwan, including sights in Hualien and Taitung counties, the cities and counties of Tainan and Chiayi and the offshore Penghu County.
The book also focuses on the Aboriginal tribes around the country.
PROCEEDS
Goedhart said all proceeds from the book would be donated to the victims of Typhoon Morakot, which devastated parts of eastern and southern Taiwan in August last year.
At the book launch yesterday, Tainan Mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) dubbed Goedhart “the Marco Polo of Taiwan,” citing the envoy’s ambitious plan to sell Taiwan to the rest of the world.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to