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 "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
Speeding and badly maintained roads were the main causes of a school bus accident on a rainy day in Taipei last year that severely injured two people and left 22 with minor injuries, the Taiwan Transportation and Safety Board said. On March 11 last year, a Kang Chiao International School bus overturned inside the Wenshan Tunnel (文山隧道) on the northbound lane of the Xinyi Expressway. The tour bus, owned by Long Lai Co, exceeded the speed limit after entering the tunnel, the board’s investigation found. Sensing that the rear of the vehicle was swaying, the driver attempted to use the service and exhaust
Central and southern Taiwan are to see increasingly heavy rainfall from last night through Friday due to the effects of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said Tropical Storm Co-May had weakened into a low-pressure system on Saturday, but that it strengthened again into a tropical depression (TD 11) near the seas around Japan's Ryukyu Islands due to favorable environmental conditions. The tropical depression is expected to persist for two to three days, moving west-northwest by this afternoon and reaching China's Zhejiang through the East China Sea tomorrow,
RSS