The Lithuanian parliament has approved laws to enable the establishment of trade offices in Taiwan and elsewhere, a government official said yesterday.
“Green light for Lithuanian #trade offices around the world! Today the #LT parliament has approved the laws that will enable the establishment of Lithuanian trade offices were [sic] we don’t have our diplomatic representation, including #Taiwan,” Lithuanian Minister of the Economy and Innovation Ausrine Armonaite wrote on Twitter.
For Lithuania, there are many unexplored opportunities in East and Southeast Asia, Armonaite said, adding that it is committed to developing trade and investment ties with Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and other countries in the region.
The new laws would allow Lithuania to develop closer economic ties with advanced economies, while boosting cooperation in high technology and innovation, she said.
The Lithuanian government earlier this year said it planned to establish a trade office in Taiwan, which is expected to open by the end of the year.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the news.
The two countries would continue to deepen relations based on their shared values of protecting democracy, freedom and human rights, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement.
A delegation of Lithuanian lawmakers is to visit Taiwan in December.
Lithuanian Member of Parliament Matas Maldeikis, chairman of the Parliamentary Group for Relations with Taiwan, on Thursday replied to an invitation by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, saying he and other lawmakers would visit Taiwan in the first half of December.
The establishment of a Lithuanian trade office in Taipei is just the first step in Vilnius’ plan to boost relations with Taiwan, and it would greatly help both countries’ political and economic development, Maldeikis said.
DPP Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉), chairman of the Legislative Yuan’s friendship association with Baltic countries, invited the lawmakers.
Taiwan and Lithuania share common values in democracy and freedom against authoritarianism, Chiu said.
Hopefully, Taiwanese lawmakers would form a delegation to visit Lithuania after the pandemic subsides, he said.
Additional reporting by Lin Chia-nan
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS