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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Fund to help fight trade threats
Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp workers in Taoyuan on Jan. 22 display bottles of rum imported from Lithuania. WARNING: Excessive consumption of alcohol can damage your health. Photo: AFP
RESILIENCE TO CHINA: Beijing’s punitive measures against Lithuania prompted the government to look for innovative ways to improve trade channels with Europe
By Lu Yi-hsuan and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNA
A fund has been established to bolster trade with Lithuania and other countries, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou （歐江安） said on Thursday, adding that other measures are being considered to help democratic nations counter economic coercion from China.
Ou made the remarks after the Legislative Yuan’s Legal Affairs Bureau urged the government to create a regular fund for potential situations such as when the state-run Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp bought 20,000 bottles of dark rum from the Baltic country after China canceled its order for political reasons.
Lithuania has faced increasing political and economic pressure from Beijing after it allowed Taipei to open the Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius las year.
To strengthen economic ties between Taiwan and Lithuania, as well as other democratic partners, the National Development Council has established a central and eastern Europe investment fund, which intends to create a favorable financial environment in which competitive industries can trade in goods such as semiconductors, lasers and biomedical technology, Ou said at a media conference.
Public and private entities in Taiwan are working to support Lithuania by increasing purchases from the country, assisting the development of domestic sales channels, consolidating industries and diversifying the export market, she said.
The government values the mutual benefits of the bilateral relationship with Lithuania, and the ministry welcomes policy recommendations, she said, adding that the ministry is seeking ways to help Lithuania and other democratic countries bolster resilience in the face of punitive Chinese trade measures.
The ministry also said that a planned visit to Taiwan by members of the British Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, originally scheduled from tomorrow to Thursday, is being postponed due to COVID-19.
A representative of the committee said on Thursday that some of its members tested positive for COVID-19.
The nine-member delegation had planned to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文）, Premier Su Tseng-chang （蘇貞昌） and Legislative Speaker You Si-kun （游錫堃）.
British Member of Parliament Tom Tugendhat, the committee chairman, said that the visit was a long overdue opportunity for British lawmakers to display solidarity with Taiwan, and that he looked forward to “showing that the UK will stand up for the protection of the island’s democratic values under increased pressure from Beijing.”
The visit would have been the committee’s first to Taiwan since 2006.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
