Vice President Annette Lu (
Ministry spokesman Richard Shih (石瑞琦) said the itinerary of the US leg before Lu's visit to El Salvador had yet to be finalized.
Local television reported Lu was due to visit Los Angeles and New York, without specifying whom she would meet.
Lu and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) have previously met US lawmakers during their stopovers but any meeting with US government officials was considered an unlikely move that would anger Beijing.
Relations between Taipei and Washington hit a low point after Chen called a landmark referendum in March on relations with China.
The referendum plans provoked a stinging rebuke from Washington, with US President George W. Bush saying he was against any unilateral move threatening the cross-straits status quo.
Lu's trip will also take her to Guatemala and El Salvador as part of Taipei's efforts to consolidate ties with its allies as China steps up a diplomatic push in the region, Taiwan's major international support base.
Twenty-six countries, 13 of them in Latin America, recognize Taiwan.
A Chinese-language newspaper reported that the failure of Honduran President Ricardo Maduro to stop off in Taipei during his current trip to Asia and Europe shows that ties between the two are in danger.
All eyes in Taipei were on whether Maduro would meet Chinese officials in Tokyo or quietly visit Beijing, the paper reported.
But Shih denied any threat to Honduras-Taiwan ties. "Ties with Honduras remain stable," he said.
In its diplomatic tug-of-war with Taipei, Beijing made a fresh score on March 30 when China swayed Dominica.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
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