President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday called on the EU to again negotiate an economic cooperation agreement with Taiwan.
The nation has always aimed to enhance its economic and trade relations with the EU, which is currently the nation’s largest source of foreign investment and one of its major trading partners, Ma told a group of visiting Irish parliamentarians, led by Ireland Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Society chairman John McGuinness.
Citing a feasibility study by a Danish think tank, Ma said a Taiwan-EU economic cooperation agreement would help boost bilateral trade by more than 10 billion euros (US$13.6 billion) per year.
So far, the European Parliament has adopted more than 10 resolutions on the signing of such an agreement, the latest of which was passed on Oct. 10 last year..
Ma expressed his appreciation to the Irish members of the European Parliament for their support for Taiwan and urged the Irish government to continue to help promote Taiwan’s goal of signing an economic agreement with the EU.
He also congratulated Ireland on its exit from the EU-IMF bailout program on Dec. 15 last year, which signaled an improvement in the Irish economy.
Ma, who last visited Ireland in 2006 when he was mayor of Taipei, said he was deeply impressed with the atmosphere of political unity there.
He said it is the main reason Ireland has become one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe over the past decade.
Ties between the two countries reached a new level in recent years, as evidenced by Ireland’s visa-waiver treatment of Taiwanese — which took effect in 2009 — the two sides’ mutual recognition of driver licenses in 2010 and the launch of a reciprocal working holiday program last year, Ma said.
He proposed that the two sides negotiate an agreement on double taxation avoidance to protect their investors.
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
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese
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