Last-ditch talks ahead of extra session

UNRESOLVED ISSUES:：Legislators remain bitterly divided over a number of issues, including imports of pork with ractopamine and the imposition of a capital gains tax
By Shih Hsiu-chuan and Chris Wang  /  Staff reporters
Tue, Jul 24, 2012 - Page 1

Government officials yesterday made last-ditch efforts to call for resolutions to various long-running issues in the extra legislative session amid ongoing opposition from civic groups, opposition parties and some Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers.

An informal meeting is to be held this morning for lawmakers to formally launch a four-day extra session to decide whether to ease the ban on imports of beef containing traces of the livestock feed additive ractopamine and to levy a capital gains tax on securities transactions. A confirmation vote on four National Communications Commission nominees is also expected to be placed on the agenda, along with other matters.

More countries grant Taiwan visa-free privileges

Taipei, March 29 (CNA) Thirteen more countries or territories have granted Taiwan visa-free privileges, bringing to 113 the number of destinations for which Taiwanese travelers no longer need visas, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced in a press release Tuesday.

The French government has granted visa-waiver treatment for Taiwan passport holders for its 11 overseas territories of up to 90 days in a six-month period, according to the MOFA.

The territories include the French overseas regions of Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guyana, Reunion and Mayotte; the overseas collectivities of French Polynesia, Saint-Barthelemy, Saint-Martin, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon and Wallis and Futuna; and the special collectivity of New Caledonia.

Meanwhile, the African countries of Tanzania and Mozambique have also extended visa-on-arrival treatment to Taiwan passport holders, the MOFA said.

Taiwan has since last year been on a drive to obtain visa-free privileges as part of efforts to commemorate the Republic of China's centennial.

Malaysia became the 100th country to grant Taiwanese citizens visa-free or landing visa privileges March 18. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J

Taiwan, France sign agreement on avoidance of double taxation

Taipei, Dec. 31 (CNA) Taiwan and France have signed an agreement on avoidance of double taxation, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2011, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced separately Friday.

Michel Lu, Taiwan's representative to France, and Patrick Bonneville, director of the French representative office in Taipei, signed the agreement on Dec. 24, the MOFA said in a statement.

The agreement was screened and passed by the French Parliament on Dec. 21 and approved by Taiwan's Executive Yuan on Dec. 23 before the Christmas Eve signing, according to the MOFA and MOF statements.

France became the 20th country to sign a double taxation agreement with Taiwan.

The MOFA said the pact represented a great step forward for economic and investment relations between Taiwan and France, Taiwan's fifth largest trade partner in Europe.

The agreement is expected to be beneficial to businesses of both sides, helping to attract French investment to Taiwan as well as providing a fair tax environment for Taiwanese businesses in France, the MOF said.

According to the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) , Taiwan's quasi-official trade promotion agency, French exports to Taiwan totaled 1.02 billion euros and imports from Taiwan totaled 2.16 billion euros in 2009.

More than 60 Taiwanese companies have invested in France, including mobile phone maker HTC Corp., computer manufacturers Asustek Computer Inc., BenQ Corp. and First International Computer Inc., and transportation companies such as China Airlines Ltd. and Evergreen Marine Corp.

(By Chris Wang)

Enditem/ls 

France not opposed to Taiwan gaining visa-free entry to EU: FIT

Note: Recasts earlier story with comments from France's representative office in Taiwan

Taipei, Oct. 14 (CNA) The French Institute in Taipei (FIT), which is the French government's representative office in Taiwan in the absence of official bilateral diplomatic ties, said Thursday that France is not opposed to Taiwan's inclusion in the Schengen visa-waiver program, which would allow Taiwanese citizens visa-free entry to the EU.

The (Schengen visa-waiver) program, which is now in the midst of a screening process in the EU, involves a negotiation between the EU and Taiwan, not between France and Taiwan, the FIT said.

The institute was responding to an issue raised by Legislator Lin Yu-fang, who said in the Legislative Yuan earlier in the day that France has expressed its hope for Taiwan to make concessions on the Lafayette dispute in exchange for French support for Taiwan's visa-exemption in 28 European countries.

The International Court of Arbitration ruled May 3 to order contractors Thales and the French government to pay a penalty of more than US$591 million to Taiwan for paying commissions on the sale of six Lafayette-class frigates to the country's Navy in 1991, in violation of the contract on the deal.

Lin questioned whether France had used its position in the screening process of the visa-waiver program in the European Parliament as retaliation over Taiwan's refusal to accept an offer for an out-of-court settlement on the Lafayette dispute.

He also suggested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) should collaborate with the Ministry of National Defense (MND) on the matter.

The Lafayette court case was launched in 2001 by Taiwan's Navy to investigate claims that much of the US$2.8 billion paid for the warships were for commissions to middlemen, politicians and military officers in Taiwan, China and France, in violation of the procurement contract.

Taiwan's Foreign Minister Timothy C.T. Yang told the legislature Thursday that France has not attempted to use the Lafayette frigate dispute to interfere with Taiwan's efforts to be included in the European Union's (EU's) list of countries whose citizens can enter the EU visa free.

"France did express concerns over the percentage of e-passports (electronic passports with fingerprint data) among all Taiwan-issued passports, but it did not formally make additional requirements in Taiwan's Schengen visa-free program, " Yang said in a session of the Legislative Yuan's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.

France did not raise the issue again at the European Parliament's Visa Working Group (VWG) meeting Sept. 15, he added. (By Chris Wang) enditem/cs

France not using Lafayette case to deny Taiwan visa waiver: MOFA

Taipei, Oct. 14 (CNA) France has not attempted to use the Lafayette frigate dispute to interfere with Taiwan's efforts to be included in the European Union's (EU's) list of countries whose citizens can enter the EU visa free, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Timothy C.T. Yang said Thursday.

"France did express concerns over the percentage of e-passports (electronic passports with fingerprint data) among all Taiwan-issued passports, but it did not formally make additional requirements in Taiwan's Schengen visa-free program, "Yang said in a session of the Legislative Yuan's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.

France did not raise the issue again at the European Parliament's Visa Working Group (VWG) meeting Sept. 15, he added.

Yang made the comment in response of a question posed by Legislator Lin Yu-fang, who said that France has expressed its hope for Taiwan to make concessions on the Lafayette case in exchange for French support for Taiwan's visa-exemption in 28 European countries.

The International Court of Arbitration ruled May 3 to order contractors Thales and the French government to pay a penalty of more than US$591 million to Taiwan for paying commissions on the sale of six Lafayette-class frigates to the country's Navy in 1991, in violation of the contract on the deal.

Lin questioned whether France had used its position in the screening process of the visa-waiver program in the European Parliament as retaliation over Taiwan's refusal to accept an offer for out-of-court settlement.

He also suggested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) should collaborate with the Ministry of National Defense (MND) on the matter.

The Lafayette court case was launched in 2001 by Taiwan's Navy to investigate claims that much of the US$2.8 billion paid for the warships were for commissions to middlemen, politicians and military officers in Taiwan, China and France, in violation of the procurement contract. (By Chris Wang) enditem/cs

Status of hijacked Taiwanese boat remains unclear: MOFA

Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) The status of a Taiwanese fishing boat suspected of being hijacked in the Indian Ocean not far from Mauritius remained unclear as of Friday evening, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official has said.

The ministry was informed by the Council of Agriculture's Fisheries Agency at noon Wednesday that the vessel "Feng Guo 168, " with a Taiwanese captain, eight Vietnamese, two Indonesians and three Chinese on board, might have been hijacked in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the island country.

The ministry was still unsure whether the boat had been hijacked by pirates or its own crew on board, MOFA spokesman James Chang said.

France, which sent a reconnaissance aircraft to locate the ship and has monitored its course since Wednesday, has agreed to continue its assistance, Chang said.

The vessel is now heading south to Mauritius after sailing north Thursday.

The MOFA also officially requested the assistance of Mauritius' government to ensure safety of the longliner in the country's EEZ.

The ministry said it has been trying to gather information about the ship through its representative offices in South Africa and France as well as Taiwanese fishery officials in Mauritius.

It has also sought the assistance of the Malaysia-based Piracy Reporting Center of the International Maritime Bureau and the maritime liaison office of America's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls

Taiwanese fishing boat feared hijacked in Mauritius: MOFA

Taipei, Oct. 7 (CNA) A Taiwanese fishing boat might have been hijacked off Mauritius waters in the Indian Ocean, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a press release Thursday.

The ministry said it was informed by the Council of Agriculture's Fishery Agency at noon time Wednesday that the Feng-guo 168, which registered in the southern port of Tungkang, Pingtung County might be hijacked in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the island country.

Crew members of the longliner included a Taiwanese captain, eight Vietnamese, two Indonesians and three Chinese, the MOFA said.

In addition to trying to gather the latest information about the ship through its representative office in South Africa and France as well as Taiwanese fishery officials in Mauritius, the foreign ministry said it has also sought the assistance of the Malaysia-based Piracy Reporting Center of the International Maritime Bureau, a subsidiary under the International Maritime Organization, and the maritime liaison office of America's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.

A France patrol aircraft has arrived at the scene and has located the boat, according to the ministry.

The incident was believed to be the first hijack case in the Mauritius EEZ, the MOFA said. (By Chris Wang) Enditem 

Taiwanese basketball junkie lives her dream in Europe

Nancy Liu has often woken up during the past six months not knowing where she was. All she knew was she was somewhere in Europe -- and that's exactly how she wanted it.

Liu is an uncommonly dedicated sports fan, even by basketball junkie standards. She quit her job and visited 33 European cities in in 63 days from March to May this year to watch professional basketball games in person.

"I love the swishing sound of a basketball going through the net. And I'm uncomfortable if I don't play basketball for two or three days, " said Liu, who started playing basketball in fifth grade when she attended an international school in Beijing, China.

Already familiar with the American basketball scene, including the professional National Basketball Association (NBA) and the college game, Liu said her passion for the sport took her to the other side of the Atlantic to explore an area she was less familiar with the game played.

Liu quit her job at an international trading company and started to map out her plan to visit as many European teams and leagues as possible.

Helped by the many friends she made while volunteering at various local sporting events, including the Jones Cup basketball tournament, the Kaohsiung World Games and the Taipei Deaflympics, Liu set up about 70 percent of her itinerary before departing on what she called, "A Basketball Dream -- Ballin' Europe."

The basketball-loving girl, who majored in applied chemistry at Taiwan's National Chiao Tung University, began her basketball pilgrimage at a Swiss professional league game in Geneva less than 24 hours after arriving there.

In the following two months, the journey took Liu to numerous cities in eight countries -- Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Greece.

In all, Liu attended 25 games and watched 50 teams play in various European domestic leagues as well as the Eurocup Finals and the Euroleague Final Four, both top-tier European basketball competitions.

Liu estimated that she slept an average of less than three hours a night during her stay in Europe and visited as many as three cities in one day.

After the two-month trip, she spent three months in Beijing to work as an intern at NBA China and returned to Taiwan for a day before resuming her travels.

This time she visited Turkey for the 2010 FIBA Men's World Championship and attended all of the tournament's games, while getting to see her favorite player -- Rudy Fernandez of Spain -- perform in person.

To save money during her European travels, Liu said she spent all but one night staying at friends' places, and ended up spending only around NT$200,000 (US$6,377) for the trip.

"Most of my budget was spent on transportation -- flight tickets, train tickets and bus fare, " Liu said. She also had to overcome "the unthinkable" in Europe, such as a French railway strike and the disruption of Euro air traffic by the eruption of a volcano in Iceland that left European skies bathed in inpenetrable ash.

Though basketball was at the center of her trip, Liu said it had even greater significance because she used every opportunity to let everyone know she's from Taiwan.

"This was my way of promoting Taiwan to the world, " she said.

Newspapers in Serbia and Greece gave extensive coverage to her ambitious trip, according to Liu. She was also interviewed by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) during the World Championship.

Liu recalled that her parents expressed concerns about the trip when she first brought up the idea, but her father finally gave the go-ahead because "he didn't want me to miss the opportunity to realize my dream."

Her European trek has not brought her dream to an end. If anything it was only the beginning of loftier ambitions, including a return to Europe for the 2011 European Championship, which will be held in Lithuania next summer.

Liu's dream now extends beyond watching basketball games.

"I want to be involved in and initiate basketball-related nongovernment organization (NGO) projects which inspire children and the underprivileged through the sport, " said Liu, who described herself as being "broke" and is looking for a job to support her future plans.

"Basketball has been the inspiration to lift myself out of bed every morning since I was 13. I hope that the sport -- and my journey -- would be an inspiration for other people as well, " she said. By CNA Staff Reporter Chris Wang enditem/ls

Online game helps Taiwan locate overseas football talent

Taipei, June 9 (CNA) Playing online games isn't necessarily a waste of time. Without it, Taiwan's Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) wouldn't have found Xavier Chen, a Taiwanese-Belgian professional footballer who the association hopes will play for Taiwan internationally.

Ginola Chen, CTFA public relations director, found the name "Xavier Chen" when he was playing an online FIFA football game last October and thought it was probably a "patch" or a role created by gamers.

But it only took a Google search for him to realize he was wrong. The real-life Xavier Chen is a 26-year-old right back in KV Mechelen, a Belgian First Division team in Antwerp Province, who had been a captain on the Belgian under-19 national team.

After weeks of e-mail correspondence with the footballer, Ginola Chen knew the recruiting opportunity was too good to miss for Taiwan, currently ranked 167th in the FIFA world rankings. He flew to Brussels, Belgium and spent a week trying to persuade the Taiwanese-Belgian, who has a Taiwanese father and a French mother, to play for Taiwan.

"That's the beauty of the Internet -- a modern way to find players, isn't it? " Xavier Chen said in Taipei Tuesday when he was greeted at the Taipei Stadium by dozens of television cameras and reporters.

In his first trip to Taiwan in 15 years, Xavier Chen plans to meet his grandfather, a former Taiwan diplomat, and to get to know Taiwan better, Ginola Chen said. "We're not trying to force him into making any decision, " he added.

Xavier Chen said that while his family still keeps some Taiwanese traditions -- mostly foods, especially the mapo tofu his mother cooks -- his knowledge of Taiwan and Mandarin has been limited because his father insisted on full integration into Belgian culture.

He said that he hasn't made any decision on joining the Taiwanese national team, but Taiwan "is my father's country -- and mine as well -- which has a special part in my heart. I think my family will be glad if I choose to play for Taiwan, " he said.

China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, also made a run to recruit Chen in April, three months after CTFA contacted him. Chen said he was open to meet with anyone to "check every opportunity" and that Taiwan was definitely one of the options.

A report on a Chinese media Web site in April, however, said that because Beijing does not accept dual citizenship, Chen would have to relinquish his Belgian citizenship to represent China. Taiwan allows dual citizenship.

"It's a dream for every player to play for a national team, " he said, adding that at 26, the window of opportunity for him to earn a place on the Belgian national team is closing fast and that was why he wanted to keep his options open.

For Chen to play on the Taiwan squad, the CTFA will have to negotiate with Chen's club in Belgium. Insurance and travel between Europe and Taiwan during the European football season will have to be taken into consideration, Ginola Chen said.

Xavier Chen, who reportedly earns 700,000 euros (NT$27 million) annually with Mechelen, is unlikely to play regularly in Taiwan, where football is a minor sport and the domestic league is weak.

"It's a shame because football is popular in the world. I don't know why it couldn't be popular in Taiwan, " Xavier Chen said.

If he were to agree to play for Taiwan, it is likely his first games would be Asian Cup qualifiers next year.

Chen is scheduled to fly back to Belgium Saturday, which means he will watch the opening game of the South Africa World Cup Friday in Taipei. The University of Brussels law school graduate said his favorite player is French winger Franck Ribery and hopes France does well in South Africa.

This is not the first foreign-born Taiwanese player the CTFA has tried to recruit. The association has also been in contact with Taiwanese-Spanish player Victor Chou, an 18-year-old defender who plays for the youth team of UD Salamanca. To date, however, a foreign-born player has never represented Taiwan on the national team. (By Chris Wang) enditem/bc

France denies military liaison office exists in Taipei

Taipei, June 1 (CNA) France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the existence of a military liaison office in Taiwan in a press briefing Monday after Taiwanese media reported that the office has been closed over the handling of a warship sale dispute.

According to the Web site of the French Foreign Ministry, its spokesman denied the existence of a military liaison office under the French Institute in Taipei, which represents French interests in Taiwan in the absence of bilateral diplomatic ties.

"We do not have a military liaison office in Taipei. There are no changes foreseen in the French Institute in Taipei, " the French Foreign Ministry spokesman said in response to a reporter's question.

The Chinese-language Liberty Times newspaper reported Monday that the French government ordered that the military liaison office in Taiwan be closed down in July because Taiwan reneged on a pledge to settle a dispute over commissions paid on the sale of six Lafayette-class frigates in 1991 out of court.

The French Institute in Taipei told the Central News Agency Monday that it had no comment on the matter.

Taiwan's Navy brought the case to the International Court of Arbitration under the International Chamber of Commerce in 2001, and on May 3, the court ruled against French defense contractor Thales, which was Thomson-CSF, when the sale was made.

The court ordered Thales and the French government, which had a major stake in the contract, to pay a penalty of more than US$591 million to Taiwan for paying commissions on the US$2.8 billion sale to Taiwan's Navy, in violation of the deal's contract.

Asked about the French government's position, James Chang, a spokesman for Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) , said Taiwan was informed as early as last year by French authorities of the closure of the office because of budgetary and personnel considerations.

He did not deny the existence of such an office.

Foreign Minister Timothy Yang said Monday that it remains to be verified whether the French government will indeed close its military liaison office in Taiwan in July.

He described the Lafayette arbitration process as a business issue and said it would not have any adverse impact on bilateral relations between Taiwan and France. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls

French Institute in Taipei unveils new Web site version

Taipei, April 23 (CNA) The French Institute in Taipei unveiled the new version of its official Web site in a ceremony Friday, hoping the new-and-improved portal will serve as a better channel of communication for its French and Taiwanese users.

Patrick Bonneville, director of the French representative office, introduced the new Web layout of www.fi-taipei.org, which showcases the streamlined content and Web design in Chinese and French versions.

"We hope that the new Web site will serve the needs of all users, including French nationals living in Taiwan or Taiwan nationals, " Bonneville said.

The new design allows users to find anything they are looking for on the Web site within three clicks, The content, divided into five major categories, is focused on bilateral exchanges between France and Taiwan and "the French perspective on global affairs, " said Patrick Mansier, chief officer of the Analysis and Information Services.

An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) service has been added to keep users posted about the latest news related the office and French-related news, Mansier said, adding that the Web site hopes to be more user-friendly by adding various services.

Alliance Francaise Taiwan, devoted to promoting French language and culture outside France, also announced the launch of its official Web site (www.alliancefrancaise.org.tw) at the ceremony. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls

Ex-Latvian president offers political insights

Taipei, April 13 (CNA) Former president of the Republic of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga shared her observations on various political topics from her unique point of view as a psychologist Tuesday before concluding a week-long visit to Taiwan.

All countries are advised to use referendums cautiously because in some cases people tend to be misinformed, she told reporters, adding that her training in psychology gave her an advantage as "a good listener" in comparison to other politicians.

Vike-Freiberga, 72, visited Taiwan amid heated local debate on whether to hold a referendum on a proposed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China aimed at lowering tariffs and relaxing trade regulations.

Citing the example of a failed ratification of the European Constitution in France in 2005, Vike-Freiberga said French voters did not vote for the Constitution not because they did not support the treaty but because they did not like the government led by then-President Jacques Chirac.

The failed first referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland in 2008, she added, was a classical case of misinformation because under Irish law the government is not allowed to promote its policy. The opposition gave the electorate false information and successfully prevented the passage of the referendum.

"This is the danger in referendum... It's very easy to mislead them (the voters) . Psychologically this potential of misinformation of the issue of referendum makes referendum, I think, an insecure instrument for finding out the true position of the people, " she said.

Vike-Freiberga was elected president of Latvia in 1999. In 2003, she was re-elected for a second term. During her tenure, she played a crucial role in leading Latvia to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the EU.

Vike-Freiberga, who has previously been nominated to run for the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations and for President of the European Council, declined to comment any further on Taiwan's political relations and economic initiative with China.

However, she said she saw nothing but a promising economic future for Taiwan because the country has always been at the forefront of innovation, development of high technology, and re-orienting itself to an economy of high value-added products, which she described as "the only way of survival in a modern world of free trade." In a free trade world, "you cannot protect yourself the way you did before, " but at the other end of the spectrum Taiwan is able to gain the access to the huge China market and create a huge opportunity, she said.

In terms of the sensitive agriculture issue, she acknowledged that it has been a complicated issue and "one of the thorniest problems in the world, which everyone has to face." "Any country has to think about having enough food to feed its people in case something happens. To some extent, each country has to produce some food, " she said, adding that this is why farmers in the EU are so heavily subsidized. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J

Funding, culture key to developing soccer in Taiwan

Taipei, Feb. 5 (CNA) With the 2010 soccer World Cup only a few months away, World Cup fever is picking up around the world.

Even in Taiwan, the event will attract a devout following, but contemplating the day when the national team actually makes the big event is an entirely different story.

Local soccer experts agree that funding, culture and a proper structure are the keys to developing the sport in Taiwan, where the game has long struggled to gain a foothold.

The foremost goal is to create a "soccer culture, " which to date has been nonexistent in a nation far more passionate about basketball and baseball, says Lin De-jia, secretary-general of the Chinese Taipei Soccer Association (CTFA).

Without a professional league and a soccer culture, children don't have the motivation to participate in the sport, Lin tells the Central News Agency.

It's not a secret that Taiwan, currently ranked 162nd in the world, has long been an international soccer minnow, registering five wins, five draws, and 41 losses World Cup qualifying matches from 1958-2010. It scorded only 28 goals in those games while surrending 182.

Led by Japanese head coach Toshiaki Imai, Taiwan's World Cup qualifying campaign for the 2010 event quickly evaporated in October 2007 when it was swept by Uzbekistan in a home-and-home series by an aggregate 11-0 score.

In order to change its lowly status, Taiwan needs to focus on developing its youth soccer programs, said David Camhi, who is familiar with Taiwanese soccer and has been running a soccer camp for children in Taipei with friends for six years.

All training and competitions in Taiwan take place within the education system, based on the U.S. model, as was the case in Japan in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Camhi wrote in his Kick-Off magazine, and he argues it is the wrong approach.

"Japan now has three professional leagues, nine regional leagues, 46 prefecture leagues and many more municipal leagues. A football pyramid with eight levels," Camhi wrote.

With such a structure in place, Japan managed within approximately 12 years to progress to the second round of the FIFA World Cup in 2002 and qualify for the 2006 and 2010 editions.

"It's something the football authorities and other sporting bodies in Taiwan should look into," Camhi wrote.

When there is a much larger talent pool in Taiwan, the overall competition level of the sport will be elevated, said Camhi, who arrived in Taiwan in 1999 and has been working on promoting the game and teaching fundamentals to children since then.

Other than the lack of a professional league, funding also has been a problem, Lin said.

"Taiwan's government sees the CTFA as nothing more than one of more than 60 sports associations in the country, " he complains.

According to Lin, the association previously received NT$10 million in funding from the government every year, but the amount dropped to NT$6 million last year.

That's a pittance compared to the NT$30 million alone the association must spend to send national teams ranging from under-13 to the senior level abroad to play in 20 to 30 international competitions every year, Lin says.

He does acknowledge that there have been some sparks of interest over the past decade, including after the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea when Taiwan's passion for "the beautiful game" did pick up a little.

Since then, Lin said, more schoolchildren have participated in the game, and more schools have organized soccer teams, enabling Taiwan's national youth teams to fare better in competitions.

Camhi said a number of elite young Taiwanese players are even capable of playing professionally overseas now, though because they lack exposure they are not recruited by European or South American clubs.

But both Lin and Camhi acknowledge that the development of the local game will take a long time and requires patience.

Lin urged the government to plan for the long-term rather than rush for immediate results, and he urged authorities to rethink their policy of establishing "sports classes" -- which gather athletes into a single class -- because it works against achieving the objective.

Such classes actually limit participation in sports and discourages schools without sports classes from organizing athletic teams because they cannot keep up with better schools, he argues.

And that's not good because the future is with the younger generation, Camhi insists. Only by working from the bottom up can Taiwan improve its soccer performance and some day "reach my ultimate goal for Taiwan to qualify for the soccer World Cup."

Paris Club seeks help from Taiwan to cancel Haiti's debt

Taipei, Jan. 18 (CNA) The Paris Club has approached Taiwan for help in canceling Haiti's international debt after the Caribbean country was ravaged by a magnitude 7 earthquake last week, sources familiar with the case told the Central News Agency Monday.

France, which chairs the group of financial officials from 19 wealthy countries that provides services such as debt relief and debt cancellation to indebted countries, has contacted Taiwan about the matter, sources said, noting that the debt that Haiti owes to Taiwan is usually donations in the forms of various collaboration programs.

According to a media report, Christine Lagarde, the French minister of economy, industry and employment, said last Friday she has contacted members of the Paris Club to discuss speeding up debt relief for Haiti.

Lagarde said she was also asking Taiwan and Venezuela, non-Paris Club members but major creditors of Haiti, to help in the debt relief effort.

"I am asking two other states, Taiwan and Venezuela... to also envisage the cancellation of their debt to Haiti... as a collective effort. This would be a good step for this country," Lagarde said.

The club said on its Web site that it had decided to cancel US$62.73 million of the country's debt in July 2009, and is committed on a bilateral and voluntary basis to cancel an additional US$152 million.

A spokesman of Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) declined to comment on the report but said the government is planning to further review the contents and details of various bilateral cooperation programs with the Haitian government.

Civic groups and nongovernmental organizations in Taiwan have mobilized a donation effort that has collected 84 tons of relief meterial, including food, water, medical supplies and lighting equipment, worth over NT$12 million.

Seventy tons of these humanitarian supplies, the first shipment of Taiwan's nongovernmental relief supplies to Haiti, were scheduled to be shipped to Dominican Republic by a FedEx air cargo charter at 8:30 p.m. Monday.

On Sunday, Taiwan's first search and rescue team, which arrived in the disaster zone by land after being stuck in the Dominican Republic because of air traffic congestion in Port-au-Prince, successfully rescued a survivor on the second day of its operations.

The survivor was a Haitian security guard at the United Nations Peecekeeping Force's police dormitory who had been buried under the rubble for five days before being rescued.

France keen to host outstanding foreign students: French official

Taipei, Nov. 2 (CNA) The French government has a longstanding policy of hosting outstanding foreign students, not just attracting as many foreign students as possible, and Taiwanese students are welcome to study in France, a French education official said in an interview with CNA Friday.

The French Institute in Taipei issued more than 700 visas to Taiwanese students last year, a 15 percent increase compared to the previous year and an encouraging sign that Taiwanese students have noticed the advantages of studying in France, said Gerard Binder, President of the CampusFrance (CF) Agency.

CF is an inter-agency government institution that has the goal of providing a one-stop service for foreign students who are interested in studying in France, Binder explained.

Taiwanese students have a preconception that France is a country that enjoys great achievements in culture, literature and the arts, Binder said.

While France has been doing well in those categories, he added, people tend to ignore its strong performance in technology, communication and aerospace, which is why Binder encouraged Taiwanese students to explore "the other side of France."

With an annual education budget of 2.5 billion Euros, France enjoys a rare advantage in that all its universities are funded by the government, which means local and foreign students can receive higher education "almost free of charge," Binder claimed.

Students have multiple options in school selection too, he said, as some may prefer to enroll in specialized schools with good reputations in design, cooking and business management.

Binder pointed out that students can take courses taught in English, although they are encouraged to have basic French proficiency. English is one of the most-used languages in the world, but Taiwanese students can learn French as a second foreign language, he said.

In the future, the French government plans to work on various collaborations, such as joint degree programs with Taiwanese institutions, to increase bilateral exchanges, he said.

France ranked third in the world in hosting about 250,000 foreign students, behind the U.S.'s 560,000 and U.K.'s 275,000. The French government is not looking to attract more foreign students to make money -- the main objective for other countries -- but to host outstanding students that can benefit both sides in the long run, he claimed.

CampusFrance office inaugurated in Taiwan

Taipei, Nov. 1 (CNA) CampusFrance Agency, a new institute to promote French higher education, inaugurated its office in Taipei Thursday, which it expects will better facilitate services for Taiwanese students in the future.

Increasing global competition and exchanges of knowledge prompted France to established a new operational structure, the CampusFrance (CF) Agency, in March 2007, to replace EduFrance, said CF President Gerard Binder.

The creation of CF corresponds to an ambitious public policy to reinforce the attractions France offers in the field of higher education, he said.

CF will provide with Taiwanese students with general information on the offers, daily life in France, and preparations before departure. It will also conduct obligatory interviews and personalized orientations as well as publish promotion guides.

The institute will have an interlocutor to help guide foreign students taking part in the project as they prepare for their studies in France, including: orientation, assistance with enrollment, taking care of administrative formalities, getting settled in France and the follow-up details related to their schooling, Binder said.

With more than 265,000 foreign students, France ranks third in the world in the numbers of foreign students, behind the United States and the United Kingdom.

Film festival organizers call for Taiwan to abolish death penalty

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) Taiwan should follow the global trend and abolish the death penalty, human rights advocates said at a film festival screening death penalty-related movies from various countries.

"The government always said death penalties were imposed in the name of the people, which means each and every one of us played a role in the execution of death row inmates. But did we really authorize the government to do that for us? " said Kao Yong-cheng, a lawyer who represented Human Rights Protection Committee of the Taipei Bar Association on the sidelines of the second "Murder by Numbers" film festival.

The festival, which was organized by Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP) , screened nine documentary films from Italy, France, Sweden, Denmark, India and the U.S., which all focused on the issue of death penalty.

There is a global trend to abolish the death penalty, said Italian director Mario Marazziti, whose film "Thou Shall Not Kill" is being screened. He noted that the death penalty has been abolished in more than 90 countries, and that there are 43 countries where there has not been a single execution in the past 10 years.

One of the films, "Un Abolistionniste: Robert Badinter, " documents the life story of Badinter, a high-profile French criminal lawyer, university professor and politician known for his struggle against the death penalty. The death penalty was abolished when Badinter served as Minister of Justice in 1981.

It took France almost 200 years to abolish the death penalty, showing that how difficult it is to tackle the issue, said Jean-Claude Poimbeouf, director of French Institute in Taiwan.

The penalty has always been a political issue, which is why it will take political measures to deal with the issue, Poimbeouf said, adding that most Taiwanese political leaders have a background in the practice of law and that they should reconsider abolishing the ultimate punishment given their expertise in both politics and law.

Most people think that crime rates will increase once the penalty is abolished, but this idea is false, said Go Yu-ling, Secretary-General of Taiwan International Workers' Association. In fact, surveys in various countries showed that crime rates did not rise after the abolition of the death penalty.

The festival, which was previously held in 2004, has been relatively successful, having doubled its viewership, said TAEDP executive director Lin Hsin-yi. The films are being shown in Kaohsiung this week after having been first shown in Taipei last week.

Picture book, exhibition to help Taiwan children understand Europe

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) Explaining what the European Union (EU) is to adults is difficult enough, let alone explaining it to children, but there is no better way to introduce the EU to children in Taiwan than with a picture book, an EU official in Taiwan said Friday.

Speaking to a group of kindergarten children at the Taipei Public Library, Guy Ledoux, head of the European Economic and Trade Office (EETO) in Taiwan, described the EU as "a big family of 27 children with different habits, but they have to obey the same rules."

Ledoux and French Institute in Taiwan Director Jean-Claude Poimbeouf were among a group of European representatives who launched an exhibition featuring the children's picture book "Petits Europeens (Little Europeans)", by French illustrator Nicole Lambert.

In 60 boards with texts in Chinese, Taiwan citizens will be able to explore the work of Lambert, an illustrator best known for her devotion to children's picture books.

"I hope that many children from Taiwan will visit the exhibition and will learn more about Europe. I hope that when they grow up and become students, some will come and study in Europe and see for themselves the great diversity of European countries and enjoy the various landscape, food and tradition, " Ledoux said.

The book tried to introduce background information, stories and traditions of the 27 EU member states to children around the world. The educational effort is part of a series of events the EETO has organized to help the people of Taiwan understand more about Europe, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the EU.

The EETO will organize a European Film Festival in 12 universities later this year.

French street art development serves as example for Taiwan

Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) The development of French street art is the result of a 30-year process of cultivation. While the French experience serves as a good example for Taiwan, it will also take Taiwan a long time before street art blossoms, said a French cultural worker Monday.

Street art in France, which originated in the 1970s in the wake of the 1968 university students' social movement, provides an example for Taiwan to follow, but that experience can neither be duplicated nor copied because it takes time for any art form or culture to grow, said Elodie Presles, a producer at France's national street art center in Marseilles.

The French government has been playing an important role in the development of street art, supporting artists and cultural events with funds from national budgets, Presles said, adding that the government recognizes that art and culture are invaluable national assets, and compensates unemployed artists to encourage them to pursue their artistic careers.

In France there are hundreds of art festivals held in various cities every year, but "Rome wasn't built in a day. Most of them started out as an event of two to three groups and gradually expanded to 100 - 300 groups today," she said.

The national street art center in Marseilles would like to invite Taiwanese artists to perform in France in the future as the center aimed at establishing an European and a global network of street art, Presles said.

Traditionally, city streets have been considered "second-rate" performance spaces in Taiwan, said Su Yao-hua, chief executive of Taipei Artists Village (TAV).

It was the same in France in the 1970s, when street performers were not considered "real artists, " Presles said. Things changed in the 1980s though, she said, when graffiti, hip-hop, and street acrobatics were accepted by the public as genuine art forms.

Courage, passion, Internet take Frenchman to Taiwan

Taipei, Aug. 28 (CNA) Courage, passion for Chinese culture and a simple search on the Internet took Jean-Baptiste Buffeteau from France to Taiwan to learn Chinese not once but twice and he plans to come back for a third time.

Buffeteau, 30, caught a lot of attention in a ceremony organized by the Ministry of Education (MOE) Tuesday to mark the conclusion of an MOE-sponsored summer Chinese learning program. Almost all the other members of the program are university students.

Spending a year in Taiwan was not enough for Buffeteau, a politics major.

He worked in a bank after returning to France and kept thinking about coming back to Taiwan. One day he discovered through the Internet that the Taiwan government offers scholarships to foreigners wanting to study in Taiwan.

Buffeteau quit his bank job enrolled in Fu Jen Catholic University on a one-year program.

He also expressed preference for Taiwan's Chinese learning program and claimed it is better than using the simplified Chinese characters used in China.

Buffeteau, who is scheduled to return to France in early September, plans to come back to Taiwan for a third time to teach French.