From 9 October to 13 October 2016 I was part of a cross party group delegation to Taiwan. The main purpose of this trip was to attend the National Day celebration, also to get to know Taiwan's political, economic, cultural,
social developments, bilateral relations between Scotland and Taiwan, bilateral relations between Taiwan and China, and Taiwan's international participation. It was a comprehensive design aimed to let the MSPs know
where Taiwan stands in East Asia and in the world, hoping that it could help to promote and strengthen the ties and exchanges between Scotland and Taiwan. During the trip we visited the capital city Taipei, in north
Taiwan, as well as two other cities Taichung and Nantou, in central Taiwan. The cost of the trip was £6,000, which included round trip flights, meals, accommodation, transportation and tickets to cultural activities/ official visits. All costs were met by the Taiwanese Government via their Representative in Scotland. The trip was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taipei Representative Office in the UK, 1 Melville Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7PE. I can confirm I received gifts of under £250 which were a miniature sculpture and a bottle of Taiwanese whiskey.