Pan-green camp legislators yesterday inaugurated the Taiwan-German Parliamentary Friendship Association at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, as officials from the two countries seek to boost their ties through bilateral trade, cooperation and exchanges.
German Institute Taipei Director-General Jorg Polster and Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials also participated in the event.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Hung-lu (張宏陸) is to serve as chairman of the association, comprising 41 lawmakers across party lines. Independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐), New Power Party Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智), and DPP legislators Fan Yun (范雲) and Lin Yi-chin (林宜瑾) are to serve as Chang’s deputies.
Photo: CNA
German Trade Office Taipei Executive Director Axel Limberg lauded the timing of the launch, as it came ahead of a German parliament delegation visit to Taiwan next month.
Limberg said trade and cooperation between the two countries have developed positively in the past few years, warranting the foundation of a parliamentary friendship association.
German officials have in the past few months spoken up for Taiwan at the WHO, the International Civil Aviation Organization and other UN organizations, he said.
The ties between the two countries are expected to grow closer over the coming years, Limberg added.
Polster said the two countries have a long history of cooperation and exchanges, and last year had a bilateral trade volume of US$20 billion.
Germany is Taiwan’s largest trading partner in Europe, and Taiwan is Germany’s fifth-largest trading partner in Asia, he said.
Chang said he has had a positive impression of German culture ever since helping organize a German Oktoberfest in New Taipei City.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said Taiwan is a major trade partner of Germany, and the two sides have since 2016 signed more than 10 bilateral agreements.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS