Lithuanian Vice Minister of the Economy and Innovation Jovita Neliupsiene yesterday arrived in Taiwan with a group of representatives from the Baltic state’s high-tech sector to enhance bilateral trade relations.
It is the first public visit by a Lithuanian official at this level since Taiwan opened its representative office in Vilnius on Nov. 18 last year as part of an agreement to open reciprocal offices signed in July last year.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) greeted the 10-member delegation after they arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at about 6:50am, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Representative to Lithuania Eric Huang (黃鈞耀) returned to Taiwan with the visiting delegation.
Neliupsiene and other delegation members did not make any public statements at the airport.
The delegation consists of representatives of Lithuanian technology companies who are to meet with Taiwanese trade and investment officials during their visit, which ends on Wednesday, the ministry said.
The delegation is to visit companies in Taiwan’s “strategic industries” and discuss possible collaboration on promoting trade and securing supply chains, it said.
It did not specify which officials the delegation would meet, nor did it say whether the visit is related to preparations for a Lithuanian trade office in Taiwan, which has yet to be established.
In March, Lithuanian Minister of the Economy and Innovation Ausrine Armonaite said that preparations for the proposed trade office were under way.
MOFA said at the time that it had received an application from Lithuania to open a representative office in Taiwan, but no updates have been provided since.
Neliupsiene’s trip came after she held talks with Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi (陳正祺) in Vilnius last month.
It was the first vice-ministerial-level economic dialogue between the two countries.
The talks covered the semiconductor, laser and biotech sectors, as well as investment, start-ups and global supply chain resilience.
As Lithuania’s ties with Taiwan have improved, the Baltic state has come under heavy political and economic pressure from Beijing over the naming of Taiwan’s office there — the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania.
Taiwan typically names its overseas representative offices “Taipei Economic and Cultural Office” or “Taipei Representative Office,” in keeping with the host countries’ preference to avoid any references that would imply Taiwan is a separate country from China.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
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
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
RSS