Headline News
EU parliamentarians on fact-finding visit
A six members strong European Parliament delegation visited Taiwan from July 14-20 to get a deeper understanding of Taiwan’s political, economic and cultural environment.
Upon receiving the delegation, led by member of the EP Frank Engel, President Tsai Ing-wen expressed gratitude to the European Parliament for its support for a bilateral investment agreement (BIA) that will further strengthen mutually beneficial partnership and bolster economic growth on both sides.
Two-way trade rose to a record US$53.2 billion in 2017 while the EU is the biggest foreign direct investor in Taiwan. Robust economic exchanges are highlighted by the European participation in Taiwan’s four-year wind power promotion plan, Tsai said.
Collaboration between the two sides goes beyond economics, as seen by the first Taiwan-EU consultations on human rights held in March in Taipei, she added.
U.K. insists on its terminology for Taiwan amid Chinese threat
The British government will continue its long-standing policy in referring to Taiwan as simply “Taiwan” and British companies should not be under pressure by Beijing to make changes on its designation of Taiwan, a British foreign affairs official said.
“The government refers to Taiwan as simply ‘Taiwan’ and, when included in a list of places, does so under an inclusive heading such as ‘country/territory’ or ‘world locations.’ U.K. companies should not be placed under political pressure to make changes. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have registered our concern with the Chinese government on this point,” Mark Field, Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said in a statement to questions from U.K. parliamentarians.
Economic
E-bikes become key transportation equipment export for Taiwan
The total value of Taiwan’s electric bicycle exports in the first five months of this year increased 54 percent on a year-on-year basis, the highest ever in that time frame. Total export value amounted to US$250 million, 17 times higher than the export value of US$14 million in 2012.
Europe is the biggest market for E-bikes, accounting for 68 percent of the exports, followed by the United States with 22 percent.
E-bikes have become one of the main exports in the category of transportation equipment, which previously consisted of auto parts, motor vehicle parts and bicycle components.
Travel
StarLux Airlines to purchase 17 Airbus A350s
Taiwan based StarLux Airlines, founded in May, signed an MOU with Airbus for purchasing 17 Airbus A350 aircrafts, including five A350-900s and 12 A 350-100s.
Delivery of the A350-900s is expected in early 2021 and the A350-1000s in late 2022.
StarLux is expected to launch its first flights by early 2020 with ten leased Airbus A321neo aircrafts.
Eva Air 5th best airline in 2018 poll
Eva Air has been ranked 5th in the World’s Best Airlines 2018 survey and came top in the World’s Best Airport Services, according to Skytrax, an authoritative U.K. - based consultancy for the global aviation industry.
The poll was conducted with the participation of 20 million passengers from 100 countries to gauge passenger satisfaction with the services provided by 335 airlines from August 2017 to May 2018.
Tourism
National Palace Museum ranked 13th most-visited museum worldwide
The National Palace Museum in Taiwan ranked 13th in terms of attendance numbers for museums worldwide, according to the Theme Index and Museum Index, and the 3rd most visited museum in Asia.
Three of the other museums in Taiwan to make the top 20 in the world in the Asia-Pacific region in 2017 are the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung (9th), the National Taiwan Science Education Center in Taipei (12th ) and the National Science and Technology Museum in Kaohsiung (20th).
For other travel tips in Taiwan:
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/taiwan-beautiful-places/index.html
