By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
An 11-member legislative delegation will head for Japan on Sunday for a seven-day visit for parliamentary diplomacy and discussions about nuclear energy.
The delegation, to be led by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), will include lawmakers Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and Mark Chen (陳唐山) of the Democratic Progressive Party and Hsu Chun-hsin (許忠信) of the Taiwan Solidarity Union.
Taipei, Dec. 21 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday that Taiwan's representative offices in Europe are doing their best to help Taiwanese travelers stranded around the northern part of the continent due to bad weather.
The ministry confirmed that as of Tuesday morning, more than 100 Taiwanese tourists were stranded in Cologne, Vienna and London after heavy snow caused the cancellation and delay of flights across the European continent.
With the help of Taiwan's representative office, 73 Taiwanese tourists received a temporary visa or a Schengen visa exemption from the immigration office in Vienna, MOFA spokesman James Chang said.
Another group of 54 travelers on a China Airlines flight had arrived in London after previously being kept in Cologne, where the tourists received a group Schengen visa so they could leave the airport during their stay.
Dozens of Taiwanese travelers were also still in London waiting for Heathrow and Gatwick airports to open, Chang said.
The MOFA believed there were other Taiwanese travelers facing problems in Europe, and the Department of European Affairs was still gathering information on their situations, Chang said.
The ministry had a similar experience in helping more than 1,900 Taiwanese travelers get to their destination or apply for temporary travel documents in April, when a volcanic eruption in Iceland disrupted thousands of flights around Europe, Chang said. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls
Taipei, June 1 (CNA) World renowned Taiwanese pianist Chen Ruei-bin gave a mini-concert at a press conference Tuesday as a preview to a June 6 solo concert in Taipei to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Polish composer and pianist Frederic Chopin's birth.
The pianist, who comes from southern Taiwan and honed his musical skills in Austria and Germany, told CNA he is excited to play in front of local music lovers for the first time in three years in Taiwan's first full Chopin concert held at the National Concert Hall.
Chen, who was taught piano by his father from the age of 5 and went to Vienna, Austria aged 12 on a state-funded scholarship, has won 18 medals in various international competitions. He has spent most of his career overseas and most of his time traveling and performing.
The virtuoso launched a Chopin 200 commemoration tour in 2008 that has taken him from the United States to Australia and New Zealand and from Europe to China and Hong Kong during the last three years.
Chen said he has played Chopin since he was a teenager, when his interpretations of Chopin received high acclaim from Austrian media and music critics.
"Looking back, my performance at the time would not even interest me now because it was not that good. As I'm now older and have experienced setbacks, challenges and heartache, I think I am able to interprete Chopin's works better, " he said. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J