British Economic Secretary to the Treasury Andrea Leadsom, who was planning to visit Taipei and Hong Kong next week to promote offshore yuan markets, canceled the trips on Thursday, citing emergency matters at home, the Bankers Association of the ROC (銀行公會) said yesterday.
The association is sponsoring a forum on Taiwan-UK offshore yuan business opportunities in Taipei on Tuesday, at which Leadsom had agreed to give a keynote speech and meet with Taiwanese officials of the central bank, the Ministry of Finance and the Financial Supervisory Commission.
“We received a notice from the British Trade and Cultural Office in Taipei that the member of [the UK] parliament could not make the trip after all,” an official at the bankers’ association said by telephone.
The cultural office attributed the last-minute change to constituent concerns in the UK, but did not elaborate. The country is due to elect new parliamentary members in the first half of next year.
Leadsom, who is the Conservative Member of Parliament for South Northamptonshire, England, is responsible for boosting the UK’s offshore finance businesses. The 51-year-old would have been the first high-ranking UK official to visit Taipei since then-British minister of state for trade and investment Stephen Green in 2011.
Bankers’ association chairwoman Lee Chi-chu (李紀珠), who is also head of state-owned Taiwan Financial Holding Co (台灣金控), flew to London two weeks ago to help confirm the visit, the association said.
The cultural office issued a statement yesterday, saying Leadsom had to postpone her trip due to emergent matters in her constituency.
The trade office offers apology for any inconvenience caused by the schedule change, the statement said.
The yuan forum will go ahead as scheduled, despite Leadsom’s absence, the association said.
“The ongoing student protests in Hong Kong makes the visit somewhat politically sensitive and awkward,” an association official said on condition of anonymity.
Lee is to push for Taiwan-UK cooperation in offshore yuan business and other matters, the association said.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
AMENDMENT: Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of high-temperature days, affecting economic productivity and public health, experts said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is considering amending the Meteorological Act (氣象法) to classify “high temperatures” as “hazardous weather,” providing a legal basis for work or school closures due to extreme heat. CWA Administrator Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) yesterday said the agency plans to submit the proposed amendments to the Executive Yuan for review in the fourth quarter this year. The CWA has been monitoring high-temperature trends for an extended period, and the agency contributes scientific data to the recently established High Temperature Response Alliance led by the Ministry of Environment, Lu said. The data include temperature, humidity, radiation intensity and ambient wind,
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist