Taiwan's representative office in Washington hosted a National Day party Thursday night, bringing a series of Double Ten National Day celebrations in the US capital to a climax.
The party was presided over by Chen Chien-jen (程建人), the senior representative to the US, and his wife. Nearly 3,000 people, including US officials, the ambassadors of the nation's diplomatic allies in the US, as well as overseas Chinese attended the party.
Eighteen members of Congress issued statements or felicitations to honor the day, with several others phoning Chen to express congratulations.
Celebrations for the Double Ten National Day kicked off in Washington last week with a flag-raising ceremony held in Chinatown on Oct. 5. Four Taiwanese studying at a military academy in Virginia were invited to raise the Republic of China (ROC) and US national flags during the ceremony.
After the flag-raising ceremony, there was a colorful parade of flags, a kungfu performance, dragon dan-cing, Asian song and dance performances and fireworks.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in New York also held a national-day party in Manhattan Thursday night, with nearly 1,000 guests, including the representatives of the nation's diplomatic allies stationed at the UN.
Four New York City Council members also read a declaration offering felicitations for the national day.
Andrew Hsia (
Hsia also stressed that Taiwan-US relations are in their best shape since 1979, when the two nations severed diplomatic ties.
He noted that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will make a transit stop in New York and accept an award from the International Human Rights Alliance on his way to visit Panama later this month.
In Hong Kong, some 300 overseas Chinese leaders and guests celebrated the Double Ten National Day at the Sun Yat-sen (
The ROC was established in 1911 under the leadership of Sun, who lived in that house around that time. To pay homage to him, overseas Chinese leaders celebrate at that house on Oct. 10 every year.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it