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One of the top stories from this past week was that President Ma Ying-jeou concluded his trip to Latin America and the Caribbean, where he visited the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Nicaragua.
Ma arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday, local time, for a brief stopover. He was greeted by hundreds of Taiwanese expats in front of the hotel where he was staying.
At a dinner with the Taiwanese community in Los Angeles, Ma said he hoped that Taiwan will maintain existing diplomatic policies after the 2016 presidential elections.
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Also this past week, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je visited Gwangju, South Korea to receive the flag of the Universiade, or world university games, at the closing ceremony on July 14.
The focus is now on Taipei, which will host the international sporting event for university athletes in 2017.
Ko said the purpose of his trip was not to watch the events, but to see the venues and get a better understanding of the operations.
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And finally, this past week, the labor ministry lifted bans it placed on Vietnamese fishermen, caregivers and domestic helpers ten years ago.
The bans were in response to the high incidence of Vietnamese workers absconding from their jobs in Taiwan. The bans did not affect Vietnamese workers in other sectors.
The head of the Workforce Development Agency, Liu Chia-chun, said Wednesday that in the future, Vietnamese caregivers will need to undergo training before they can come to Taiwan. Caregivers will have to complete 90 hours of professional training courses, 200 hours of Chinese language classes and 100 hours of workshops on laws and regulations.