A group of European Parliament members led by European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group chairman Michael Gahler of Germany arrived in Taiwan yesterday to begin a six-day visit.
The delegation — which also includes European Parliament members Bernard Guetta of France and Ondrej Kolar of the Czech Republic, as well as the friendship group’s secretary-general, Markus Poesentrup of Germany — is the first group from the EU legislative body since European Parliament elections in June, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
During the visit, which ends on Friday, the delegates are to meet with Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), join a banquet hosted by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and visit the Legislative Yuan, the ministry said in a news release yesterday.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The dignitaries would also meet with people from non-governmental organizations and major political parties to discuss issues such as Taiwan-EU economic ties and the geopolitical situation to explore opportunities for further cooperation, it said.
The visit comes after the European Parliament on Thursday adopted a resolution concerning the “misinterpretation of UN General Assembly Resolution 2758” by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and “its continuous military provocations around Taiwan,” the ministry said.
Expressing opposition to the PRC’s use of the 1971 resolution that replaced Taipei with Beijing at the UN to block Taiwan’s participation in international organizations affiliated with the global body, the European Parliament adopted the resolution with 432 votes in favor and 60 against.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
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
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS