Lukas Engström is a Swedish national based in Taiwan. Shortly after he started to learn Mandarin Chinese here, he visited a soft drinks bar to buy a cup of pearl milk tea. While in the queue, he kept repeating to himself the Chinese phrases he had to say to the staff. When at last he gave the order in impeccable Mandarin, he thought all was well, but he was completely nonplussed when the smiling staff shot out these questions in truncated Chinese: “How sweet would you like it? How much ice?”

Taiwan is taking part in the World Trade Organization’s 13th Ministerial Conference Feb. 26-29 in Abu Dhabi to exchange views with other member economies on issues of common interest, the Executive Yuan Office of Trade Negotiations said Feb. 24.

While attending the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Taiwan joined more than 40 WTO members at a side event held on February 25 to convey solidarity with Ukraine. The participants, including the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, issued a joint statement expressing support for Ukraine.

Representative to the United States Ambassador Alexander Tah-ray Yui and American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Managing Director Ingrid Larson signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on international development cooperation on February 22. The signing was witnessed by representatives from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and officials from the US State Department.