President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) upcoming three-nation Latin America tour slated to start today would not be affected by Typhoon Chan-Hom, although a land warning for the typhoon was issued late on Thursday, Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) said.
Chen said that the government has to strike a balance between dealing with domestic and foreign affairs.
He said Ma always attaches great importance to disaster prevention and preparedness and has directed the Executive Yuan to be well-prepared for the coming typhoon.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ma is set to depart today for an eight-day trip to Taiwan’s diplomatic allies which would take him to the Dominican Republic tomorrow, the Republic of Haiti on Tuesday next week, and the Republic of Nicaragua on Wednesday next week. He is scheduled to return to Taiwan on Saturday next week.
Mainland Affairs Council head Hsia Li-yan (夏立言), is scheduled to visit Washington and New York from today to July 19 to brief US officials on the government’s policy toward China.
During his visit to Washington, Hsia is to meet with US government officials, members of the US House of Representatives and the Senate and academics to expound on Taiwan’s policy toward China and the development of relations across the Taiwan Strait and to exchange views on issues of mutual concern, ministry spokesperson Wu Mei-hung (吳美紅) said.
It is Hsia’s first trip to the US since he took office in February.
On Monday next week, Hsia is to deliver a keynote speech at a symposium titled Relations across the Taiwan Strait: Retrospective and prospects for future development.
The symposium is organized by the Washington-based think tank the Brookings Institution.
During the symposium, Hsia and experts from Taiwan, the US and China are to discuss cross-strait relations and examine political and economic conditions in China.
It was reported that Hsia’s Chinese counterpart, Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍), is also planning to visit the US in July.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS