President Chen Shui-bian (
Following "smooth" negotiations with US authorities, Chen and his entourage will leave Taipei on Monday morning and stay overnight in San Francisco before continuing on to Nicaragua on Tuesday to attend Nicaraguan president-elect Daniel Ortega's inauguration ceremony on Wednesday, Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Liu Shih-fang (
Liu added that Chen would also transit in Los Angeles for a "very short time" on his way back from Nicaragua on Thursday.
Chen and a coterie of Cabinet officials and VIPs will celebrate the swearing-in of Ortega and vice president-elect Jaime Morales Carazo from Tuesday to Thursday, the Presidential Office said.
"The negotiations with the US regarding the transits went very smoothly despite some disruptions, including the holiday season and the passing of former US president Gerald Ford," Liu said at a Presidential Office press conference last night.
"We are very grateful to the US and Nicaraguan governments for making such a trip possible," she added.
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Hou (
"Taiwan has enjoyed warm relations with Nicaragua for six decades, and it is one of our staunchest allies in Latin America," Hou said.
Chen and his party will meet with a welcoming ceremony upon their arrival in Nicaragua on Tuesday and will participate in festivities that evening, Liu said.
"The inauguration ceremony and related events on Wednesday will occupy the president's schedule for that day," Hou said.
Liu said Chen looked forward to meeting with Taiwanese compatriots in the US, but that he would "respect US regulations and requests to Taiwan" on his transits.
As for who would accompany Chen on the state visit, Liu drew gasps from the press with her announcement that Democratic Progressive Party Chairman Yu Shyi-kun had been invited to go.
"We also invited acting Taiwan Solidarity Union chairman Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) to accompany Chen, but Lin refused, citing his role as a proxy leader of that party," Liu said.
When asked if Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
"Is he even in Taiwan?" Liu said, referring to Soong, who is said to be on vacation in the US.
Responding to questions on whether 200 Taiwanese businesspeople would also accompany Chen, Hou said only five or six business leaders would go, saying "it had been our hope that as many as 200 would go."
"Nicaragua had also hoped that many of our investors would accompany Chen," Hou said. "But we never stated that 200 business leaders would go."
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS