Thursday 4 March - MK Anastassia Michaeli telephoned the Taiwanese representative to Israel, Liang-jen Chang to express her concern about the earthquake that had rocked Taiwan in the early hours of the day, registering 6.4 on the Richter Scale.  Fortunately, no injuries have been reported.
    Recently, MK Michaeli hosted Mr. Chang at her office and was invited to lead a delegation of members of Knesset to Taiwan.  
     MK Michaeli said, "Taiwan is country with which we have strong and varied commercial ties.  It is important to continue to develop our trade relationship.  The Taiwanese representative has asked me to work toward abolishing the visa requirement between our respective countries to facilitate tourism."
    According to the Foreign Ministry, approximately 3000 Taiwanese tourists visited Israel in 2009.
    Taiwan is the 19th largest importer to Israel and rates 23 as a destination for Israeli exports. 
    There are many potential areas for development in Israeli-Taiwanese trade: electrical components, industrial chemistry, computer programming and service, electricity supplies, telecommunications, medical supplies, and environmental monitoring and conservation technology.
     The conflict between the Republic of China and Taiwan is complex.  Taiwan functions today as an independent country, although it has never declared independence, nor is it recognized as such by the international community. China places an embargo on any country that recognizes Taiwan as an independent country.