Taiwan and Japan yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding to promote cooperation on issues between the customs offices of the Port of Keelung and Yokohama.
Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Chairman Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) and Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi signed the nonbinding agreement on behalf of their governments at the 47th annual Taiwan-Japan Economic and Trade Conference in Taipei.
The government-funded associations are charged with handling Taiwanese affairs in Japan and Japanese affairs in Taiwan respectively in the absence of official diplomatic relations.
Photo courtesy of Port of Keelung Taiwan International Ports Corp
Keelung Customs Office head Chen Shih-feng (陳世鋒) said that the memorandum would facilitate cooperation between the two sides and streamline customs clearance processes.
The countries also agreed to cooperate on combating trafficking and smuggling, sharing intelligence and addressing tariff issues, Chen said.
Speaking at the opening of the conference, Su said that Taiwan and Japan have made great strides on bilateral economic and trade cooperation in the past few years.
He reiterated the government’s call in asking Japan to support Taiwan’s bid to gain accession to the Tokyo-led Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Meanwhile, Ohashi said he was happy to see the annual conference return to Taipei for the first time in five years.
The last time the meeting was held in Taipei was in 2018. It was last year and early this year held in Tokyo after not being organized from 2020 to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He praised bilateral trade relations as “thriving” over the past few years, with two-way trade volume reaching a historical high of US$88.2 billion last year.
Ohashi said he hopes that the annual meeting, which has been held since 1976 and serves as an important communications platform, would continue to make contributions to the economic and trade ties between Tokyo and Taipei.
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
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
RSS