The government yesterday congratulated Lawrence Wong (黃循財) on his appointment as Singapore’s fourth prime minister the previous day.
Wong, 51, was sworn in as his country’s leader on Wednesday night at the Istana — the presidential office — along with the rest of his Cabinet.
Wong comes from a crop of so-called “4G” leaders, a new generation of politicians handpicked by the long-ruling People’s Action Party to take over the reins of the country.
Photo: Bloomberg
He is the first Singaporean leader born after the country’s independence in 1965.
Wong is to retain his current position as finance minister as he takes the helm of a country that was led for 20 years by former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍), son of the founder of modern Singapore and first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀), who remained in the Cabinet until four years before his death in 2015.
Lee Hsien Loong was appointed as senior minister after stepping down as Singapore’s prime minister.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs congratulated Wong on his appointment and thanked Lee Hsien Loong for his long-term support of Taiwan-Singapore relations.
Ties between the two countries have been cordial and friendly, it said, adding that it hopes the two governments would continue to deepen the friendship and expand their bilateral cooperation in fields such as economy and trade, education, tourism, cultural exchanges and people-to-people interactions.
Taiwan and Singapore have maintained close ties, despite the lack of official diplomatic relations, since the latter became an independent state in August 1965.
Taiwan established a representative office in Singapore in 1969, and 10 years later, Singapore reciprocated by opening an office in Taipei.
Lee Kuan Yew was one of the world leaders to most frequently visit Taiwan, visiting more than 20 times during his tenure as prime minister from 1965 to 1990.
During Lee Hsien Loong’s tenure as prime minister, the two sides in 2013 signed a trade agreement, titled the Agreement Between Singapore and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on Economic Partnership.
As of last year, Singapore was Taiwan’s sixth-largest trading partner, while Taiwan was Singapore’s fourth-largest trading partner, with annual trade of US$39.2 billion.
The two sides have also engaged in military cooperation, with the Singapore Armed Forces permitted to conduct military training in Taiwan under a program called “Project Starlight” (星光計畫).
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit
HOSPITAL VISITS: Shin Kong Mitsukoshi pledged to give the families of the four people who died NT$11m each and provide support for staff working at the time The central government would assist local governments to enhance public safety, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday as he visited people in hospital who were injured in an explosion at a department store in Taichung on Thursday. A suspected gas explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang department store in Taichung at 11:33am on Thursday, killing four people and injuring 36. Of the 40 casualties, 39 were hospitalized, Ministry of Health and Welfare data showed. Three died after out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, the data showed. As of 6am yesterday, 25 of those injured had been discharged from hospital, leaving 11
RSS