“Taichung International Flower Carpet Festival” is fascinatingly held from the 23rd this month until January 7th next year at the Houli Flower Farm (Huatien) Greenway.

The 2017 National Defense Report was released Dec. 26 by the Ministry of National Defense, spotlighting Taiwan’s security situation, combat readiness and defense strategies.

At today’s Cabinet meeting, Premier Lai Ching-te received a Ministry of Culture (MOC) briefing on preparatory work and future plans for the National Human Rights Museum, saying the facility is expected to promote and realize modern concepts of human rights in Taiwan.

To prepare for next November’s third-round mutual evaluation by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), the government has invited the intergovernmental organization Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, the APG itself, and international experts from Australia and elsewhere to come to Taiwan to conduct a simulated evaluation of public institutions and make pertinent recommendations.

Premier Lai Ching-te called a year-end news conference today to outline the Executive Yuan’s policies for creating a peaceful and contented society, raising the national birth rate, and balancing development across Taiwan—three key pillars that comprise the Cabinet’s policy vision and outlook for the future.

The Republic of China (Taiwan) and Caribbean diplomatic ally Haiti inked Dec. 19 a letter of intent to expand cooperation on environmental protection, highlighting growing mutual beneficial exchanges between the two sides, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Taiwan and Indonesia signed Dec. 20 an agreement to foster cooperation in geodesy and geomatics, the scientific fields concerned with measuring the Earth and gathering, storing and processing geographical information, respectively, according to the Ministry of the Interior.

Taiwan and India concluded a memorandum of understanding on industrial collaboration Dec. 14 in New Delhi, underscoring the two sides’ commitment to strengthening trade and investment ties, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Taiwan welcomes reiterated support from the European Parliament for the nation’s meaningful international participation, which highlights the long-standing friendship between the two sides, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dec. 14.

Taiwan’s delegation to the 11th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Argentina this week joined 70 other WTO members including Singapore, Australia and Japan in announcing its intention to initiate exploratory work toward WTO negotiations on electronic commerce, the Executive Yuan Office of Trade Negotiations said today.