President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will go ahead with his plans to visit Nicaragua despite the death of Managua Mayor Alexis Arguello, Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) said in Panama on Wednesday.
Ma, who attended the inauguration of Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli on Wednesday, was scheduled to travel to Nicaragua today for a state visit.
Arguello, a boxing champion-turned-politician, was found dead at his home early on Wednesday. Local media reports said it appeared to be case of suicide.
PHOTO: REUTERS
His death, along with speculation that Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega would accompanying deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya on a bid to return home, had Taiwanese reporters accompanying Ma speculating on whether his trip to Managua would be affected.
Ou said Ma would continue to Nicaragua as scheduled. Ortega is scheduled to drive Ma to the hub of a bilateral technological cooperation project and Ma will also visit a trade fair where many Taiwanese companies are showcasing their latest products.
Touching on Arguello’s death, Ou said Ortega and Nicaragua’s foreign minister had not gone to Panama City for Martinelli’s inauguration.
Some of the local government officials in Ma’s delegation who had been scheduled to meet Arguello and Ou said their itinerary would now be adjusted. He said Ma and his delegation would extend their condolences on Arguello’s death when they arrive in Managua.
Ma and his entourage will make a stopover in Hawaii on their way back to Taiwan on Monday.
The presidential delegation was due to visit Honduras but that stop was canceled after Zelaya was forced into exile by military leaders on Sunday.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS