Foreign Minister Wu talks Taiwan-India friendship, vows to strengthen ties in Hindi daily

2018/07/10

Taiwan and India share a firm friendship and the government is committed to expanding exchanges with the New Southbound Policy country across a broad spectrum of areas, according to Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu July 7.
 
“For Taiwanese, India is a great country with a deeply impressive history, civilization and culture,” Wu said. “The government will continue working with India in advancing mutual interests, delivering mutual benefits and not letting the China factor disrupt the strengthening of relations.
 
“We are sober-minded about who is a friend and who is not. For us, India is a friend, and a good one, too.”
 
Wu’s remarks featured in an article published by Hindi daily Navbharat Times, one of the NSP country’s most widely read Hindi dailies and a sister publication of The Times of India.
 
 According to the minister, the people of Taiwan admire India for its rapid economic growth under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Policies like the NSP and India’s Act East Policy are complementary and there is “tremendous room for cooperation,” he said.
 
 The NSP is a key plank in the government’s national development strategy. It seeks to enhance Taiwan’s agricultural, business, cultural, education, tourism and trade ties with the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, six South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand.
 
 India’s Ministry of External Affairs defines the AEP as aiming to promote “economic cooperation, cultural ties and develop a strategic relationship with countries in the Asia-Pacific region through continuous engagement at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels.”
 
Requests from Indian publications for interviews with Wu commenced after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated its position and tweeted on the recent controversial decision by state-run Air India Ltd. to change Taiwan’s designation on its website to Chinese Taipei. The latter attracted 1,266 likes, 993 retweets and 97 replies, making it one of the MOFA’s most effective tweets to date.

The ministry entered the Twitterverse April 16, with Wu sending the first tweet in English, Japanese and Spanish. It has since tweeted 443 times in the three languages as well as Hindi and Indonesian.
 
 Ushering in a new era of near-instantaneous global communication for the MOFA by improving its new media capabilities is a top priority for the minister. “Keeping our foreign friends around the world better informed of the latest developments relating to Taiwan’s foreign affairs is a crucial mission going forward,” he said.

“The 24-hour news cycle means there is not a moment to spare in getting out the right message in a clear and concise fashion,” he said. “Twitter is the ideal platform.”

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=2&post=137558)