President Chen Shui-bian (
Presidential Office Secretary-General Mark Chen (
"We have received an invitation from the Costa Rican government to attend the inauguration of President Oscar Arias on May 8. I believe President Chen is more than happy to attend the event," Mark Chen told reporters at the legislature yesterday morning.
When asked whether Libya would be included in the schedule, Mark Chen said that government agencies are assessing such a trip and looking into arrangements.
According to an Apple Daily report yesterday, Chen will visit Libya as well as the nation's political allies Costa Rica, Haiti, Paraguay, Chad and Burkina Faso.
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Kau (
"We can't reveal any details about this for the moment because China might try to obstruct the arrangement," Kao said in response to questioning in the legislature's Organic Laws and Statues Committee.
Kao said that the ministry has many plans for "head of state diplomacy" and many destinations are under consideration.
On Jan. 18, President Chen announced that he had accepted an invitation from Saif Qaddafi, the third-eldest son of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, and had promised to visit the north African state in the near future. He made the remarks after the two met at the Presidential Office.
President Chen also asked Saif Qaddafi to pass on an invitation to his father, asking him to visit Taiwan.
However, the Libyan government denied that Muammar Qaddafi had extended such invitation and reaffirmed its commitment to the "one China" policy.
Libya's announcement was made as Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (
"We reaffirm that we recognize only one China," Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam said in a statement on Jan. 19.
Taiwan had diplomatic relations with Libya from 1959 to 1978. Taiwan maintained a trade office there from 1980 to 1997 after Libya switched its diplomatic recognition to China. The office was closed in 1997 due to pressure from China.
Officials at the Presidential Office attributed Taiwan's recent good relationship with Libya to the long-term efforts of the National Security Council. Officials stressed that it is important for Taiwan to build good relations with oil-producing countries in both Africa and the Middle East.
Regarding whether President Chen will stop in Washington or New York, Mark Chen said that they have not yet filed a request.
An official from the Presidential Office said yesterday that President Chen Shui-bian's plan to make stopovers in the US during visits to Taiwan's diplomatic allies is not expected to be affected by his decision to cease the function of the National Unification Council and the application of the National Unification Guidelines.
Meanwhile, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Hwang (黃瀧元) yesterday said in the legislature's Budget and Final Accounts committee that the ministry hasn't obtained the order to arrange a presidential trip to Libya.
But Hwang said that the ministry's Department of Central and South American Affairs has started to arrange a high-level visit to Costa Rica.
Hwang was also questioned by opposition lawmakers over loans to some diplomatic allies.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Lawmaker Lai Shyi-bao (
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CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique