A 14-member delegation of the Taiwan-USA Parliamentary Amity Association left for the US yesterday for a weeklong visit.
DPP legislator Trong Chai (蔡同榮), leader of the delegation, said prior to the departure that the trip will mainly be about attending the inauguration of the US Congressional Taiwan Caucus next week -- in order to witness the close exchanges between Taiwan and US legislators.
Delegation spokeswoman Hsiao Bi-hkim (蕭美琴) said that friendly relations between Taiwan and the US could be enhanced through such close parliamentary exchanges.
The caucus, which has 77 members, was founded by US Representatives Robert Wexler, a Democrat; Sherrod Brown, a Democrat; Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican; and Steve Chabot, a Republican.
The delegation will also attend a series of seminars organized by the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), which Chai said has long promoted relations between Taiwan and the US and has maintained exchanges with the US Congress.
Hsiao also lauded the FAPA, saying that she agrees with the comments within US political circles that the group is the strongest US lobby group after Israel's. She also said that it has become one of the major pillars of Taiwan-US ties outside official channels.
The delegation is also sch-eduled to mark the 23rd anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act during the visit. The act, signed into law by then-president Jimmy Carter on April 10, 1979, governs relations between Taiwan and the US in the absence of formal diplomatic ties, which were severed years earlier.
The legislative delegation also includes lawmakers from across the political spectrum, including the KMT's Yao Eng-chi (
Chai was recently elected head of the Taiwan-USA Parliamentary Amity Association, which has a total of 120 legislative members.
The association, established in May 1988, was formerly named the Taiwan-USA Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS