President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will visit Central America twice between the end of next month and July to attend presidential inaugurations in two of Taiwan’s allies in the region, political sources said.
The president’s travel plans show that he will depart for a week-long Central America visit late next month that will take him to El Salvador to attend the inauguration of president-elect Mauricio Funes.
He will also travel to several of Taiwan’s other allies in the region. In July, the sources said, Ma is scheduled to visit Panama for three to four days, mainly to attend the inauguration of the country’s next president.
Ma made his first overseas tour as Taiwan’s head of state last August when he visited the Dominican Republic and Paraguay.
For that trip, Ma used a regular scheduled commercial flight to travel to the US, from where he flew to Central America on a chartered aircraft.
For the forthcoming visits Ma will only use chartered flights, with no decision yet made on which carrier will be used.
On customary transit stops in the US, the sources said, safety, convenience and comfort will remain the top guiding principles in all relevant arrangements.
Central and South America and the Caribbean are Taiwan’s diplomatic stronghold, with many of its 23 diplomatic allies located there.
Meanwhile, the sources said that Ma is also likely to attend a summit meeting between the leaders of Taiwan and its South Pacific allies to be held in August or September in the Solomon Islands.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park this weekend, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a theme food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances. Pokemon Go Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as photo attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs. Pokemon trainers could also experience the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area. Three PokeStops are to be set up in the park. Trainers are invited to take