US Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman will arrive on a three-day visit to Taipei on Monday, the highest-ranking US government official to visit Taiwan since 2000, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said yesterday.
Poneman outranks US Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah, who was in Taipei for two days last week, the AIT said.
During his visit, Poneman will meet President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), senior government officials and US and Taiwan business leaders. He will also deliver a speech on how the US and Taiwan can work together to tackle tomorrow’s energy challenges, the AIT said.
Poneman will promote greater cooperation between the public and private sectors in Taiwan and the US in a number of fields, including scientific research, nuclear energy and renewable energy technologies, the AIT said.
Shah visited Taiwan after attending the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea, while Poneman’s visit was also part of an Asia trip.
The last visit to Taiwan made by a secretary-level official in a US administration was in 2000 when then-US secretary of transportation Rodney Slater attended a Taiwan-US business conference.
In response to the announcement, Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of North American Affairs Director-General Bruce Linghu (令狐榮達) said Taiwan welcomed all visits by senior US officials.
“Following the visit by Shah, the upcoming visit by Poneman will be another demonstration of the US’ commitment to send senior officials to enhance bilateral cooperative relationships, which has an important bearing on high-level exchanges between Taiwan and the US,” Linghu said.
AIT spokesperson Christopher Kavanagh said the US encouraged high-level visits and hoped Poneman’s visit would be as productive as that of Shah, who discussed a number of ways to enhance cooperation in foreign assistance with government officials and leaders from the private sector.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS