Former US president George W. Bush will not visit Taiwan this month because of his tight schedule during an upcoming tour of Asia, an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed yesterday.
Despite the setback, the official said the ministry would continue in its efforts to secure a visit from the former US president, who left office last year.
The official denied that a media report publicizing Bush’s visit had led to a volte-face on a mooted visit later this month.
Instead, the issue was said to be Bush’s tight itinerary and the fact that he might have to rush back to the US after his trip to Asia.
Last week, the Chinese-language Next Magazine reported that Bush had accepted an invitation from Jason Yuan (袁健生), Taiwan’s representative in the US, to visit Taiwan later this month.
At that time, Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said he could not confirm the reported visit by Bush as the invitation was only in the initial stages.
The official yesterday said that inviting prominent US politicians to Taiwan remained one of the ministry’s responsibilities, but that getting them to come was difficult because their busy schedules are often set well in advance.
The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy successfully invited former US president Bill Clinton, after he left the White House in January 2001, to visit Taiwan in February 2005.
During his visit, Clinton delivered a keynote speech on democracy in Asia.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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