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.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS