Swedish Member of Parliament Hampus Hagman is pushing for changing the name of the nation’s trade office in Taipei to signal improved relations with “Asia’s perhaps foremost democracy.”
Hagman on Wednesday last week proposed renaming the Swedish Trade and Invest Council to “Sweden’s Office in Taipei,” following similar changes by other nations.
The Swedish Trade and Invest Council, part of Business Sweden, is owned by the Swedish government and Swedish industry.
Taiwan and Sweden share important values such as respect for democracy, human rights, the rule of law and freedom of speech, Hagman said in the motion, adding that the two nations already have strong academic and trade ties, but there is potential to deepen the relationship.
Business Sweden acts as an economic representative, but as it has expanded to provide consular services, there is reason to make it an official office, he said.
Sweden’s Statement of Foreign Policy for this year said it intended to “defend and promote democracy around the world” and “build alliances with like-minded countries and organizations that want to help strengthen democracy,” he said.
The statement emphasizes the need to support efforts to ensure open societies, freedom of the press and LGBT rights, all of which support his proposal to strengthen ties with Taiwan, he said.
There are also economic reasons for strengthening ties, as Taiwan has a large high-tech industry, he added.
It is not the first time that Hagman has spoken up for Taiwan.
In a February hearing with the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, he voiced support for Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHO based on the nation’s contributions to the fight against COVID-19.
The UK, Australia, Japan, Poland and the Netherlands have all made similar name changes in the past decade.
In May 2012, the Australian Commerce and Industry Office changed its name to the Australian Office Taipei, followed by the UK in May 2015, when it changed the name of its office from the British Trade and Cultural Office to the British Office Taipei.
In January 2017, Japan renamed its Interchange Association to the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association.
Poland quickly followed, in June 2018 changing the name of its office from the Warsaw Trade Office to the Polish Office in Taipei.
Most recently, the Netherlands in April renamed its office from the Netherlands Trade and Investment Office to the Netherlands Office Taipei.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS