President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) will make two two-day stopovers in the US later this month on her way to and from a state visit to allies in the Caribbean, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
“Arrangements are being made by the US, in keeping with the principles of security, dignity, convenience and comfort,” Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Tsao (曹立傑) said.
“In line with a tacit agreement between Taiwan and the US, the American cities in which Tsai will make her stopovers will be publicized at a later date,” he said.
Photo: CNA
Chinese-language media had earlier reported that Tsai would transit in New York and Denver.
Tsai is scheduled to arrive in the US on Thursday next week and stay for two nights before departing for Haiti early on Saturday, the ministry said.
She is to fly to St Kitts and Nevis on Saturday night and stay until early on Tuesday.
She is to visit to St Vincent and the Grenadines on July 16 and 17, and arrive on St Lucia on July 17, where she will stay until July 19, before heading back to the US for a two-night stopover.
Tsai is scheduled to return home on July 22.
The trip will be Tsai’s first to the nation’s diplomatic allies in the Caribbean since taking office in May 2016.
She is scheduled to meet with Haitian President Jovenel Moise, St Kitts and Nevis Governor-General S.W. Tapley Seaton and Prime Minister Timothy Harris, St Vincent Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, and St Lucia Governor-General Emmanuel Neville Cenace and Prime Minister Allen Michael Chastanet, Tsao said.
Seaton is to confer a state medal on Tsai in recognition of her contribution to bilateral ties, and Tsai is to address St Kitts and Nevis’ parliament.
Among the top officials in Tsai’s entourage for the trip will be National Security Council Secretary-General David Lee (李大維), Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and Overseas Community Affairs Council Minister Wu Hsin-hsing (吳新興), in addition to several lawmakers and business representatives.
Tsai was last in the US in March when she made a transit stop in Hawaii on her way back to Taiwan from a state visit to three Pacific allies: Palau, Nauru and the Marshall Islands.
This story has been updated since it was first published to correct the dates.
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