A delegation comprising about 65 officials and businesspeople is preparing to visit Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia next month to explore economic and trade opportunities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
The plan was first reported by Chinese-language online news outlet Up Media on Wednesday last week, but the ministry had refused to provide details about the trip until yesterday.
Led by National Development Council (NDC) Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫), the delegation would travel to the three nations on a chartered flight from Oct. 20 to 30, Department of European Affairs Director-General Remus Chen (陳立國) told a news conference at the ministry in Taipei.
Photo: National Development Council
Since Czech Senate Speaker Milos Vystrcil led an 89-person delegation to Taiwan last year, the nation has deepened its ties with central and eastern European countries in various areas, Chen said, thanking Lithuania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland for their donations of COVID-19 vaccines.
The delegation would comprise government officials and business representatives from sectors such as information and communication technology, precision medicine and electric vehicles, he said.
Some disease prevention specialists would accompany the delegation during the visit, he added.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
The delegation is to explore opportunities for cooperation on smart machinery and smart city infrastructure — pertinent to the three nations’ strength in heavy industries — as well as the digital economy, start-ups and biotechnology, NDC Department of Overall Planning Director-General Connie Chang (張惠娟) said.
A Slovak delegation had planned to visit Taiwan in May, but due to a local COVID-19 outbreak the visit was rescheduled.
During the visit to Slovakia, the delegation would discuss the planned Taiwan trip with their counterparts, Chen said.
Asked about the progress of Lithuania’s plan to open a representative office in Taipei, Chen said the establishment is awaiting Lithuanian government administrative and legal procedures, and that the ministry is awaiting information from Vilnius before it could provide more details.
Preparations for Taiwan’s plan to establish a representative office in Lithuania are running smoothly, he said, adding that the ministry would share more information in due course.
Despite external “coercion,” Taiwan and Lithuania would not falter in their determination to develop their ties, Chen said, without naming China.
Since Lithuania in July decided to host a Taiwanese representative office, Beijing has been pressuring the Baltic nation to drop the plan.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as many lawmakers in the European Parliament, have voiced their support for Lithuania’s plan.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS