18 December 2020

President Tsai talks COVID-19, leadership with Cornell Law Forum resident Tsai Ing-wen took part in a written Q&A interview with the PCornell Law Forum, the biannual magazine of US-based Cornell Universi- ty Law School, according to a President Office statement, December 16. The interview is featured in the mag- azine’s fall 2020 issue, focused on the theme of “Leading through Adversity”, and is part of a series of stories on 10 alumni, including Tsai, who obtained her master’s degree from Cornell in 1980. According to Tsai, one major leadership lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic has been the importance of creating a shared sense of purpose. Inspiring unity, ship requires a wide range of character and abroad. the president said, was the real key to Tai- traits and skills that transcend gender, In a tweet from her official Twitter ac- wan’s success in combating COVID-19. and said that, as Taiwan’s head of state, count, President Tsai described herself Responding to a question on the topic of she has a responsibility to promote as honoured to feature in the magazine gender, Tsai noted that effective leader- women’s empowerment, both at home alongside other inspiring alumni. Taiwan opens representative office in southern France The Economist lists Taiwan as he Ministry of Foreign Affairs including MOFA Minister Joseph Wu; contender for country of the (MOFA) announced the opening of French senator Andre Vallin; member of year Ta new representative office in Aix- the French National Assembly Laurence aiwan was included on The Econ- en-Provence, France, December 14. Trastour-Isnart; and Maryse Joissins Ma- omist’s shortlist for country of the In a statement, the ministry described the sini and Karima Zerkani-Raynal, mayor Tyear 2020, December 18, in part move as part of the government’s broad- and vice mayor of Aix-en-Provence, re- due to the country’s remarkable suc- er efforts to deepen the Taiwan-France spectively. cess in combating the coronavirus pan- friendship and expand bilateral coopera- According to MOFA, person-to-person demic. tion. exchanges between Taiwan and France The London-based publication praised Taiwan for keeping the virus at bay with- The office, located in the southern region have dramatically increased over the past out closing schools, shops or restau- of Provence, held an inauguration cere- several years, as demonstrated by a 62% rants, and noted that it is one of the very mony co-hosted by Francois Chihchung increase in the number of Taiwanese trav- few economies worldwide expected to Wu, Taiwan’s representative to France, ellers visiting France from 2016 to 2019. have grown in 2020. and Hsin Chi-chih, head of the new office. Likewise, The number of French visitors to The article also highlights Taiwan’s The event also featured virtual messag- Taiwan grew by nearly 30% over the same courage in the face of relentless threats es from a number of high profile figures, period, the ministry added. from Beijing, before going on to cite the GCTF Joint Committee Meeting staged by Taiwan, US, Japan country as a constant reminder that aiwan, Japan, and the US co-host- group announced its intention to, over Chinese culture is perfectly compatible with liberal democracy. ed the sixth annual Global Coop- the course of the coming year, host Teration and Training Framework workshops on the areas of public health, (GCTF) Joint Committee in Taipei City, law enforcement, disaster prevention December 15, reviewing the accom- and mitigation, renewable energy, and plishments from this year’s GCTF activi- workforce and artificial intelligence. ties and exchanging views on the priori- Another notable announcement was ty areas for cooperation in 2021. that of the launch of an official GCTF In a joint statement, all three like-minded website, which provides information partners pledged to continue expanding about the GCTF and will, looking for- Editorial: Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium cooperation with other collaborators ward, serve as a platform for all partic- Website: http://www.roc-taiwan.org/be_en/index.html E-mail: [email protected] and push for the institutionalisation of ipants to connect with each other after Tel: +32(0)2/287.28.16 or +32(0)2/287.28.11 the GCTF going forward. Moreover, the events.