Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) was the best candidate to visit the Marshall Islands on behalf of the government, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said yesterday after the pan-green camp called Hu the “runaway mayor” for being away when the city was struck by Typhoon Fung-wong last week.
Chen said Hu was the foreign minister when Taiwan and the Marshall Islands established diplomatic relations in 1998 and many residents of the Pacific island country have a strong affection and deep gratitude for Hu.
“The ministry should thank him for cementing bilateral ties between the two countries,” Chen said.
Chen said Hu had been invited by Marshallese Foreign Minister Tony deBrun to preside over a donation handover ceremony.
Hu has also come under fire over a trip to Switzerland at the end of April, with critics saying that he went there on holiday and not official business.
Deputy Mayor of Taichung, Hsiao Chia-chi (蕭家旗) said in Hu’s defense that he went to Switzerland to meet with the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) to seek the right to host the 13th Youth World Baseball Championship (YWBC) and to meet with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to lobby on having baseball re-instated as an official Olympic sport.
However, some of Hu’s critics who are familiar with such matters, said the IOC headquarters deals with basic administrative matters and not issues such as lobbying and that Hu did not need to go to Switzerland because Taiwan’s IOC member Wu Ching-kuo (吳經國) has an office in Taipei.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CHIANG CHING-YA
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