The Presidential Office is still evaluating whether President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will visit diplomatic allies in Central and South America early next year, said an official familiar with the matter.
The official, who requested not to be named, made the statement following a Saturday report in the Chinese-language United Evening News that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is arranging for Ma to attend the inauguration of Honduras’ new president and maybe to visit allies in the region.
“Such travel proposal is still being evaluated,” the official told the reporters.
Ministry spokeswoman Anna Kao (高安) also declined to comment on the newspaper report, saying only that the Republic of China (ROC) has maintained a close relationship with Honduras, and officials from the two countries visit each other frequently.
Kao said that Honduran President-elect Juan Hernandez has been friendly toward the ROC and has visited Taiwan during his tenure as speaker of the Honduran National Congress.
ROC Ambassador to Honduras Joseph Kuo (郭永樑) met with Hernandez following his win in the Central American country’s presidential election on Nov. 24 to convey Ma’s congratulations on his electoral success, Kao said.
The Honduran presidential inauguration is scheduled for Jan. 27 next year.
Meanwhile, a ministry official said yesterday that all Taiwanese diplomatic personnel stationed in the Gambia and their Gambian counterparts in Taiwan will head to their respective homes by Wednesday, a month after the two countries formally broke off diplomatic ties.
The withdrawal of embassy personnel has entered the final phase, said the official, who asked not to be named.
Diplomatic workers from either country are required to leave their posts by that date, with exceptions only for personnel dealing with “major issues” that cannot be resolved within the time frame.
Taiwan terminated diplomatic relations with the Gambia on Nov. 18, three days after Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, surprised Taipei with a unilateral announcement ending 18 years of formal ties.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it