President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will embark on an eight-day diplomatic trip to Panama and Belize at the end of this month, with stopovers in Hawaii and Seattle, the Presidential Office said yesterday.
"The main purpose of the trip is to attend the inauguration of Panamanian President-elect Martin Torrijos on Sept. 1," Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General James Huang (黃志芳) said during a press conference.
It will be Chen's first official trip abroad since his re-election in March.
"Because the president is busy dealing with national affairs, the trip has been arranged with security, convenience and simplicity firmly in mind," Huang said.
Chen will leave on Aug. 29 with a one-night stopover in Hawaii before arriving in Panama on Aug. 31 for a two-day visit.
Apart from attending the inauguration of president-elect Martin Torrijos, Chen will also attend a banquet hosted by outgoing President Mireya Elisa Moscoso and hold interviews with the international press.
Chen will then travel to Belize, a Central American ally which Chen has not had a chance to visit until now.
Chen will sign a joint communique with Belizean Prime Minister Said Musa during his one-day visit as well as receiving the keys to Belize City.
Chen and Musa will also decorate each other, Huang said.
Chen will also take basketballs and soccer balls as a gift to Belize, Huang added.
Chen is scheduled to return on Sept. 5.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (
"Whoever [the US representatives may be,] the ministry will try to arrange for Chen to have an opportunity to chat with them," Mark Chen said.
Huang said that Chen Shui-bian would not be able to meet with Hawaiian Governor Linda Lingle during his brief stopover in Hawaii, as Lingle would be away in New York attending the Republican Party's national convention.
It was also unlikely that Chen Shui-bian would meet with Washington Governor Gary Locke in Seattle since Locke would be attending his daughter's wedding, Huang said.
Despite this, Mark Chen said the ministry will arrange for Chen to meet with other US political figures as well as overseas Taiwanese groups.
When asked whether the president would take the opportunity to visit his son, Chen Chih-chung (
"The trip is of a working nature," Huang said.
"The president does not arrange travel itineraries based on personal matters," he said.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS