Technical difficulties created by the COVID-19 pandemic means this year’s Taiwan-Japan Economic and Trade Conference has been pushed back to next year, and would be held by end of March at the latest, Taiwan-Japan Relations Association (TJRA) Secretary-General Kuo Chung-shi (郭仲熙) said yesterday.
The TJRA and the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association have held the conference in October or November for the past 44 years.
Some virtual meetings have been scheduled, but due to the scale of the conference and the large number of participants, it is taking longer than usual to plan, Kuo told a routine meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei.
Discussions are still underway on how to organize the conference, and they might decide to organize smaller groups that meet at separate times, Kuo said
The closing ceremony is another sticking point, as traditionally the heads of the two associations attend the ceremony, but a decision on whether to hold a physical event has not been made, Kuo said.
Asked whether the conference would be held this year, Kuo said it would happen before the end of Japan’s fiscal year, which runs from April 1 to March 31.
Meanwhile, regarding the potential import of foodstuffs from areas affected by the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster, Kuo said that the ministry would respect professional opinion and maintain close communication with Tokyo on the matter.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Wednesday said that the government had not discussed opening food and agricultural imports from Fukushima and four other prefectures following the lapse of a 2018 referendum that called for another two-year extension on the ban.
Tokyo cares deeply about this issue, Kuo said.
As always, public health is at the forefront of the government’s concerns, he said, adding that a decision would be made in line with international standards and scientific data, as well as practices in other advanced nations.
Lifting the ban is considered a key to whether Taiwan might be allowed to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is currently led by Japan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last month said that Beijing is considering joining the partnership.
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man
RSS