President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is scheduled to embark on a 10-day visit to Central America next Tuesday, for the first time accompanied by his wife, first lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青), as well as local chiefs and a performance group.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Hou (侯清山) told a press conference that Ma and the 159-person delegation would leave on May 26 and return on June 4. The main purpose will be to attend the inauguration of El Salvadoran president-elect Mauricio Funes on June 1.
Ma is scheduled to make a one-night stopover in Los Angeles on his way there and in Seattle on his way back. The trip will also take Ma to Belize and Guatemala.
Hou said Ma would not make any public appearances during his short stays in the US.
All activities will be conducted at his hotel, including meetings and phone conversations with friends and US officials. The ministry has arranged cultural and political events in Belize and Guatemala, including addresses to the two countries’ parliaments.
The ministry is still arranging bilateral meetings between Ma and leaders and representatives attending the inauguration in El Salvador. Honduran President President Jose Manuel Zelaya and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega have agreed to attend the talks.
Hou said that no special arrangement had been made for a meeting between Ma and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, adding that the two could nevertheless “meet accidentally.”
This will be the first time Chow accompanies Ma on a trip abroad since the president came into office. Hou said she will interact with her counterparts from the three allied countries and attend cultural and charity events.
Local heads, student representatives and college principals will also be part of the delegation.
Billing the trip as “grassroots diplomacy” and “academic diplomacy,” Hou said the arrangement was the brainchild of many persons rather than solely the ministry.
While local elections will be held at the end of the year, Hou dismissed speculation that it played any role in local chiefs’ participation in the trip.
Of the 10 local chiefs, seven are mayors and three are township or village wardens. All but one are from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). The only exception is an independent village warden.
Also on the list are Chiayi Mayor and KMT Vice Chairwoman Huang Ming-hui (黃敏惠) and KMT legislators Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), Justin Chou (周守訓) and Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑).
Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said Saturday that she would not be intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), following reports that Chinese agents planned to ram her car during a visit to the Czech Republic last year. "I had a great visit to Prague & thank the Czech authorities for their hospitality & ensuring my safety," Hsiao said on social media platform X. "The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community," she wrote. Hsiao visited the Czech Republic on March 18 last year as vice president-elect and met with Czech Senate leadership, including
There have been clear signs of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempts to interfere in the nationwide recall vote on July 26 in support of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators facing recall, an unnamed government official said, warning about possible further actions. The CCP is actively involved in Taiwanese politics, and interference in the recall vote is to be expected, with multiple Chinese state media and TAO attempts to discredit the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and undermine public support of their recall movement, the official said. This interference includes a smear campaign initiated this month by a pro-Beijing Hong Kong news outlet against
A week-long exhibition on modern Tibetan history and the Dalai Lama’s global advocacy opened yesterday in Taipei, featuring quotes and artworks highlighting human rights and China’s ongoing repression of Tibetans, Hong Kongers and Uighurs. The exhibition, the first organized by the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan (HRNTT), is titled “From the Snowy Ridges to the Ocean of Wisdom.” “It would be impossible for Tibetans inside Tibet to hold an exhibition like this — we can do it. because we live in a free and democratic country,” HRNTT secretary-general Tashi Tsering said. Tashi Tsering, a Taiwan-based Tibetan who has never
A first shipment of five tons of Taiwan tilapia was sent from Tainan to Singapore on Wednesday, following an order valued at NT$600,000 (US$20,500) placed with a company in the city. The products, including frozen whole fish and pre- cooked fish belly, were dispatched from Jiangjun Fishing Harbor, where a new aquatic processing and logistics center is under construction. At the launch, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) called the move a “breakthrough,” marking Taiwan’s expansion into the Singaporean tilapia market. Taiwan’s tilapia exports have traditionally focused on the United States, Canada, and the Middle East, Huang said, adding that the new foothold in