Separate parliamentary delegations from Finland and Switzerland arrived in Taiwan yesterday for official visits that are to include meetings with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and other top government officials, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The Finnish delegation is led by Finnish Parliamentary Friendship Group Chair Mikko Karna. The group is to visit the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) and the Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute (台灣半導體研究中心) in Hsinchu City, as well as the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) and Kaohsiung Harbor, before its departure on Thursday.
Karna is “an important friend of Taiwan who firmly supports Taiwan’s democracy, freedom and international participation,” the ministry said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In the face of expanding authoritarianism, Taiwan would continue to deepen ties with like-minded partners like Finland to strengthen democratic resilience, and safeguard the shared values of freedom and democracy, it said.
Meanwhile, the first two members of a Swiss cross-party delegation arrived for a six-day visit.
Swiss national councilors Fabian Molina and Mustafa Atici of the Social Democratic Party arrived at Taoyuan International Airport just after 6am. The three other members of the delegation — Swiss national councilors Nicolas Walder and Leonore Porchet of the Green Party, and Yves Nidegger of the Swiss People’s Party — were expected to arrive on later flights.
Photo: CNA
Molina and Walder serve as copresidents of the Swiss-Taiwan parliamentary friendship group.
The group is to visit the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the National Development Council, the Mainland Affairs Council, and the National Science and Technology Council, as well as the Hsinchu Science Park.
The Swiss lawmakers would also travel to outlying Kinmen County to visit the sites of historical battles between Taiwan and China, before departing on Friday, the ministry said.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
RSS