US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, will lead a Congressional delegation to the inauguration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in May.
Three other representatives — all members of the Taiwan Caucus — have said they would join the delegation.
The representatives include Alcee Hastings, a Democrat from Florida; Thaddeous McCotter, a Republican from Michigan, and Kay Granger, a Republican from Texas. Following the inauguration, the group will visit South Korea.
However, more people are likely to join the delegation.
While in Taiwan they are expected to talk with members of the Ma administration and also with leaders of the Democratic Progressive Party.
A source close to Ros-Lehtinen said that US arms sales to Taiwan would almost certainly be high on the agenda.
Coen Blaauw, a senior official with the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs, said: “It is encouraging to see Ros-Lehtinen leading this important delegation.”
“She is one of the bravest, strongest and most outspoken long-time friends of Taiwan’s democracy on Capitol Hill,” he said.
“She has no qualms expressing her concern about recent overtures to China made by the current government of Taiwan,” Blaauw said.
US President Barack Obama and his administration is expected to be represented at the inauguration by American Institute in Taiwan chairman Raymond Burghardt.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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