Taiwan and Lithuania are indispensable partners, as both are democracies at the front line against authoritarian threats, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a dinner ceremony in Lithuania on Wednesday.
The dinner marked the third anniversary of the establishment of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, with Lithuanian Member of Parliament Matas Maldeikis handing his post as head of the Lithuania-Taiwan friendship group to Lithuanian Parliamentarian Ruslanas Baranovas.
Lin said in his address that Taiwan-Lithuania relations have rapidly developed since the office was established in Vilnius in 2021, laying solid foundations for trade and collaborations in semiconductors, ultra-fast lasers, biotechnology, renewable energy and other fields.
Photo from Lin Chia-lung’s Facebook
With 19 Taiwanese drone manufacturers accompanying him to Lithuania, he expected to expand the partnership to other fields to work toward the common goal of promoting peace and prosperity, he said.
Taiwan and Lithuania are on a geopolitical front line against authoritarian regimes, China and Russia, and should work together against authoritarian expansion to defend democracy, Lin said.
Taiwan is a reliable partner for democratic countries, especially when constructing global democratic supply chains, as it has a free market economy and cutting-edge technology, competitive edges that have made it a crucial contributor to the global economy, he said.
“Taiwan needs the world, and the world needs Taiwan,” Lin said.
He also thanked Lithuanian members of parliament for their support for Taiwan.
On Tuesday, Taiwan and Latvia signed a memorandum of understanding on drone collaboration during the first visit by a Taiwanese drone industry delegation to the Baltic country.
The agreement was signed in Riga, Latvia’s capital, by Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (漢翔航空) chairman Hu Kai-hung (胡開宏), who led the Taiwanese delegation, and a representative from the Latvian Federation of Defense and Security Industries, a statement issued yesterday by the Taipei Mission in the Republic of Latvia said.
The 47-member Taiwanese delegation, comprising representatives from 16 domestic drone companies, related industries and government officials, is the largest trade group from Taiwan to Latvia.
They were joined by more than 120 counterparts from Latvia and Estonia, including Estonian parliamentarians Kristo Enn Vaga, Kalle Laanet and Juri Jaanson.
At the signing ceremony, Representative to Latvia Andrew Lee (李憲章) said Taiwan is a reliable partner to Latvia and Estonia, citing its advanced technology in information and communications as well as semiconductors.
Speaking at a banquet on Tuesday, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇), convener of the Foreign and National Defense Committee, cited the shared democratic values of Taiwan and the Baltic countries.
He said that both regions face threats from authoritarian powers, Taiwan from China and the Baltic states from Russia, and called for strengthened cooperation to build more resilient industrial supply chains and reduce reliance on totalitarian regimes.
During the event, Vaga, chair of Estonia’s parliamentary Taiwan support group, and Janis Vucans, former chair of Latvia’s parliamentary Taiwan support group, reiterated their support for Taiwan.
They pledged to continue advancing trade, industrial cooperation and international ties with Taiwan.
ACTION PLAN: Taiwan would expand procurement from the US and encourage more companies to invest in the US to deepen bilateral cooperation, Lai said The government would not impose reciprocal tariffs in retaliation against US levies, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he announced five strategies to address the issue, including pledging to increase Taiwanese companies’ investments in the US. Lai has in the past few days met with administrative and national security officials, as well as representatives from various industries, to explore countermeasures after US President Donald Trump on Wednesday last week announced a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese imports. In a video released yesterday evening, Lai said that Taiwan would not retaliate against the US with higher tariffs and Taiwanese companies’ commitments to
Intelligence agents have recorded 510,000 instances of “controversial information” being spread online by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) so far this year, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report yesterday, as it warned of artificial intelligence (AI) being employed to generate destabilizing misinformation. The bureau submitted a written report to the Legislative Yuan in preparation for National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee today. The CCP has been using cognitive warfare to divide Taiwanese society by commenting on controversial issues such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) investments in the
HELPING HAND: The steering committee of the National Stabilization Fund is expected to hold a meeting to discuss how and when to utilize the fund to help buffer the sell-off The TAIEX plunged 2,065.87 points, or 9.7 percent, to close at 19,232.35 yesterday, the highest single-day percentage loss on record, as investors braced for US President Donald Trump’s tariffs after an extended holiday weekend. Amid the pessimistic atmosphere, 945 listed companies led by large-cap stocks — including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Largan Precision Co (大立光) — fell by the daily maximum of 10 percent at the close, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The number of listed companies ending limit-down set a new record, the exchange said. The TAIEX plunged by daily maxiumu in just
‘COMPREHENSIVE PLAN’: Lin Chia-lung said that the government was ready to talk about a variety of issues, including investment in and purchases from the US The National Stabilization Fund (NSF) yesterday announced that it would step in to staunch stock market losses for the ninth time in the nation’s history. An NSF board meeting, originally scheduled for Monday next week, was moved to yesterday after stocks plummeted in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s announcement of 32 percent tariffs on Taiwan on Wednesday last week. Board members voted to support the stock market with the NT$500 billion (US$15.15 billion) fund, with injections of funds to begin as soon as today. The NSF in 2000 injected NT$120 billion to stabilize stocks, the most ever. The lowest amount it
RSS