Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday wrapped up his visit to Lithuania, Poland and Belgium, the ministry said, adding that the trip has helped deepen the democratic cooperation between Taiwan and Europe.
Lin on Nov. 16 started his visit to Europe, where he met with several Taiwan-friendly lawmakers, including European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group chairman Michael Gahler, Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group chairman Ruslanas Baranovas and Polish-Taiwanese Parliamentarian Group chairman Krzysztof Truskolaski, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Lin visited the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre’s headquarters in Leuven, Belgium, where he met with CEO Luc Van den hove, it said, adding that they talked about deepening Taiwan-Europe connections in advanced semiconductor supply chain resilience.
Photo: Screen grab from Lin Chia-lung’s Facebook page
Lin also led the Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance to attend the Drone Industry Business Forum held in Vilnius on Thursday last week, when he and Lithuanian Vice Minister of National Defense Monika Korolioviene spoke at the opening event, the ministry said.
More than 200 people from about 60 drone companies in Taiwan, Lithuania and other European countries attended the forum, and two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) were signed between delegations from Lithuania and Taiwan, demonstrating their determination to establish democratic supply chains in the uncrewed aerial vehicle industry, it said.
Lin also visited 21 Lithuanian lawmakers across party lines, including Dovile Sakaliene, Giedrimas Jeglinskas and Tomas Tomilinas, the ministry added.
Lin was invited to present flowers at the barricades outside the Seimas Palace, and to a dinner ceremony where Lithuanian lawmaker Matas Maldeikis handed over his post as head of the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group to Baranovas, it said.
Lin on Friday last week attended the Taiwan-Poland Economic Cooperation Conference, organized by the Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA), the ministry said.
The next day, Lin visited Lodz to witness the signing of an MOU between the Taiwan-Poland Chamber of Commerce and the Polish-Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, under which the two chambers agreed to cooperate through the CIECA and the Polish Chamber of Commerce, breaking new ground for economic and trade between the two nations, it said.
On the same day, Lin visited Warsaw to witness the Taiwanese government’s donation, through the Association of Ukrainian Cities, of electric generators for Ukrainian cities facing significant power outages, and 2,600 laptops made by Taiwanese brands for Ukrainian schools — adding up to about US$10 million in financial aid, the ministry said.
He also witnessed Chunghwa Telecom and the Ukrainian city of Bucha sign an MOU, under which the company would implement “smart city” and 5G technologies in the city, it said.
The ministry would continue to promote integrated diplomacy, to enhance democratic resilience with European and like-minded partners, establish a solid and reciprocal alliance based on shared values, and through public-private partnerships expand economic and trade relations to deepen connections between Taiwan and Europe, it 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
A mountain blaze that broke out yesterday morning in Yangmingshan National Park was put out after five hours, following multi agency efforts involving dozens of fire trucks and helicopter water drops. The fire might have been sparked by an air quality sensor operated by the National Center for High-Performance Computing, one of the national-level laboratories under the National Applied Research Laboratories, Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters said. The Taipei City Fire Department said the fire, which broke out at about 11am yesterday near the mountainous Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) Recreation Area was extinguished at 4:32pm. It had initially dispatched 72 personnel in four command vehicles, 16
RSS