The itinerary of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) upcoming visit to China will be released today, KMT Secretary-General Lin Feng-cheng (林豐正) said yesterday after lengthy discussions with high-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials in Beijing.
The KMT will announce the itinerary at the weekly meeting of its policy-making Central Standing Committee, Lin said, adding that the Beijing-based Taiwan Affairs Office under the State Council will also issue a statement today, now that Lien's itinerary has been fixed.
Lin, who arrived home last night, said that his talks with Taiwan Affairs Office Director Chen Yunlin (
Reiterating that Lien will do his utmost to protect Taiwan's dignity, seek benefits for the people of Taiwan and make peace in the Strait when he meets Chinese President Hu Jintao (
The KMT will staunchly safeguard the interests of the Republic of China that it founded 95 years ago, he said, but denied speculation that the KMT is preparing to sign a truce agreement with the CCP.
He also said that "everyone" is welcome to join forces to build peace and create benefits for the people on both sides, referring to the latest development that Hu also extended an invitation to People First Party Chairman James Soong (
The KMT official arrived in Beijing on Monday to arrange Lien's visit to China, where he will make stops in Nanjing, Shanghai, Xi'an and Beijing. Lien is slated to meet CCP General-Secretary Hu in Beijing, marking a KMT-CCP encounter unprecedented in more than 60 years amid long-standing hostility between the two political parties.
Meanwhile, more than 100 reporters with Taiwan's media organizations have applied to cover Lien's visit to China, the KMT said.
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
Deliveries of delayed F-16V jets are expected to begin in September, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said today, after senior defense officials visited the US last week. The US in 2019 approved a US$8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the nation’s F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets, but the project has been hit by issues including software problems. Koo appeared today before a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which is discussing different versions of the special defense budget this week. The committee is questioning officials today,
TALENT SCOUTING: The university is investing substantial funds in its future to bring in the kind of researchers that would keep the college internationally competitive National Taiwan University (NTU) plans to invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to launch two programs aimed at attracting and retaining top research talent, university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said yesterday. The funding would support the “Palm Grove Scholars Project,” which targets academics aged 40 to 55. Up to 20 scholars would be selected, each receiving as much as NT$10 million annually, Chen said. The initiative is designed to attract leading researchers to Taiwan and strengthen NTU’s global competitiveness by fostering a more research-friendly environment and expanding international collaboration, he said. NTU is also introducing a “Hong Hu” chair grant, which would provide Palm
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