The government is seeking to increase opportunities for young people to work legally while traveling in Germany next year amid greater-than-expected demand for the working holiday program launched on Oct. 11, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday.
“Thousands of Taiwanese youth have been calling the German Institute Taipei to inquire about the working holiday program, while the number of applicants who have registered for an interview has exceeded 300,” James Lee (李光章), the director-general of the ministry’s Department of European Affairs, told a press conference.
Taiwanese and German representatives signed a joint statement on Oct. 10 last year, with each side offering 200 multiple-entry visas for a working holiday program under which people aged 18 to 30 can work in the other country for up to one year.
Taiwan’s plan to increase the quota next year was well received, with the German Institute Taipei saying it would ask the German government to give the request first priority, Lee said.
Germany was the first European country and fifth in the world to sign a working holiday program with Taiwan, after Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Canada.
Lee said data on the number of German youth who had applied for the program was not yet available.
Meanwhile, Lee said last year saw a significant increase in the number of Taiwanese traveling to the UK since the inclusion of Taiwan in the British visa-waiver program in March last year.
UK Border Agency statistics showed that the number of Taiwanese visitors for short-term recreational and business purposes last year rose 107 percent to 54,170 from 26,095 in 2008.
Excluding business travelers, the number of Taiwanese visitors to the UK surged 150 percent last year, while the number of Taiwanese students in the UK rose 70 percent last year, he said.
Last year also saw a surge in visits by UK passport holders to Taiwan to 80,935, from 51,980 in 2008, Lee said.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
RSS