US Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce yesterday arrived in Taiwan for a four-day visit that includes tomorrow’s dedication ceremony for the American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) new complex in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
It is Royce’s first visit to Taiwan since she took up her post in March, although she has accompanied her husband, US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, on several trips, the ministry said.
She is quite familiar with Taiwan and she and her husband have been long-standing, important friends of Taiwan, the ministry added.
Photo: Bloomberg
Marie Royce is to visit government agencies during her visit to share views on issues including Taiwan-US relations, educational and cultural exchanges and building a good environment for start-ups, it said.
She is also scheduled to meet with alumni of US exchange programs, and engage with the local and foreign businesses community on entrepreneurship and the business climate, the AIT said in a statement yesterday.
In her job, she oversees a wide range of programs that advance US foreign policy objectives through educational, professional, cultural and sports exchanges, and that create networks and partnerships to advance US foreign policy goals and address global challenges and opportunities, the statement said.
Marie Royce has more than 30 years of experience in the private sector, it said.
She served as a vice president of Alcatel-Lucent; held management positions with Marriott International, Avendra, Choice Hotels International and Procter & Gamble Co; and taught at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
US Representative Gregg Harper, a co-chair of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, also arrived yesterday to attend tomorrow’s dedication ceremony, at the head of a three-person delegation, the ministry said.
This is Harper’s first visit to Taipei since he took over the co-chairmanship in 2015, it said.
He is also scheduled to meet with high-ranking economic and political officials and attend a banquet hosted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), the ministry said.
Describing Harper as an important friend of Taiwan in the US Congress, the ministry said he has helped push pro-Taiwan proposals through the US Congress, including signing a petition to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to ask that Taiwan be allowed to participate as an observer in this year’s World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.
He voted for the US’ Taiwan Travel Act, which encourages visits between government officials of the US and Taiwan, and met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) when she transited through Miami en route to Panama on her first overseas trip as president in June 2016.
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
RSS