President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) once again demonstrated his gift for the gaffe yesterday, raising a laugh during his welcome of the foreign minister of Sao Tome and Principe and his wife at the Presidential Office.
In his welcoming speech, Ma hailed Foreign Minister of Sao Tome and Principe Carlos Alberto Pires Tiny as coming from another of Taiwan’s West African allies, Burkina Faso. The blunder drew a round of laughter before Ma realized his mistake and corrected himself.
In a bid to avoid further embarrassment for the president, the Presidential Office asked the media not to report the faux pas. Presidential staffers later said that the laughter had not come from people inside the room, but from outside.
PHOTO: CNA
It was not the first time Ma has made a slip-up since he took office in May last year. In August, Ma got the name of a former Japanese governor wrong on two different occasions. In November, the president said during a TV interview that the NT$3,600 consumer vouchers that were issued to the public were worth NT$36,000.
In January, Ma referred to Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) as “Hu Yaobang (胡耀邦),” a former Chinese Communist Party secretary-general. When attending the funeral ceremony of a Buddhist monk last month, Ma referred to the deceased by two different names, neither of which was correct.
At a separate event yesterday, Ma praised the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), saying it had contributed to peace in the Taiwan Strait in the 30 years since its enactment.
Ma said he has made efforts to improve relations with China since he took office, and added that his efforts had paid off, as the first signs of peace have appeared in the Taiwan Strait.
“It has a lot to do with the [US’] Taiwan Relations Act and the US government’s dutiful implementation of the law,” he said. “The relationship between Taiwan and the US will not erode, but only strengthen.”
Ma made the remarks while meeting a delegation of US parliamentarians led by Florida Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart at the Presidential Office yesterday.
Describing Washington as an “important ally,” Ma said he was pleased to see the US government and its people maintain economic, cultural and other non-diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
He also thanked the administration of former US president George W. Bush for notifying Congress to approve Taiwan’s arms procurement package, saying the purchase was important to the country’s safety and that Washington was obligated to sell defensive weapons to Taiwan based on the TRA.
In the 11 months since he took office, Ma said, the country had restored mutual trust with the US and both Taipei and Washington have made significant efforts to resolve problems.
Typhoon Champi is forecast to turn northward earlier than previously expected, sparing Taiwan a direct hit but still bringing heavy rain to the north of the country on Friday and Saturday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Typhoon Champi had strengthened and increased in size over the past 12 hours, and as of yesterday afternoon, was packing sustained winds of 198kph near its center, CWA forecaster Cheng Chieh-jen (鄭傑仁) said. However, due to the weakening of a Pacific high-pressure system the storm is now expected to turn northward earlier than initially forecast, likely around Japan’s Ishigaki Island, Cheng said. As Champi brushes
A sea warning for Typhoon Champi might be issued tonight, while the storm’s trajectory would determine whether a land warning is to be issued tomorrow night, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Champi was about 1,536km east-southeast of Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), packing maximum sustained winds of 198kph, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said. The storm was moving west-northwest at 23kph and was expected to strengthen over the next 24 hours before weakening slightly as it approaches cooler waters east of Taiwan, Tseng said. Champi is expected to turn north tomorrow, with the angle of the
DEFENSE PROCUREMENT: Taiwan could become the largest operator of V-BAT drones outside the US if the contract is finalized, the Ministry of National Defense said The navy and the coast guard reportedly plan to acquire 292 units of MQ-35A V-BAT vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) surveillance drones. If the contract is awarded and finalized, it would make Taiwan one of the largest buyers of the uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by the US-based defense technology company Shield AI. The Coast Guard Administration budgeted NT$1.2 billion (US$37.1 million) to buy 12 drones, which have been delivered, Shield AI said in a report on Oct 13. The navy is planning to spend NT$36 billion under a four-year program code-named Project Yuan Hsiao (遠鴞) to acquire 280 V-BAT drones,
A patrol vessel donated by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) to the Philippines would not be used in waters near Taiwan or areas where Taiwanese fishing vessels operate, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. The vessel, formerly the CGA's 500-tonne-class Kinmen (金門), was commissioned into the Philippine Coast Guard on Oct. 2. Speaking at the Legislative Yuan, Cho said the Philippines had pledged during the donation process that the vessel would be used only for designated missions and would not operate in waters related to Taiwan. The vessel could even provide assistance to Taiwan if needed, he added. Responding to questions from Chinese
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