The Presidential Office yesterday said that People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) is to represent President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at this year’s APEC leaders’ summit.
Speaking at an afternoon news conference in Taipei, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said Tsai chose Soong as her special envoy to the summit in Peru next month because of his exceptional knowledge about international affairs and Taiwan’s political and economic situations.
“Tsai believes that with Soong’s abundant knowledge, seasoned experience and strong personal network, he will undoubtedly be able to demonstrate the nation’s all-directional development to the international community, strengthen our influence in APEC and promote interactions with its members,” Huang said.
Photo: CNA
Huang said that Soong, who ran against Tsai in the Jan. 16 presidential election, will be accompanied by his daughter to the APEC summit.
Since Taiwan became a full member of APEC in 1991, it has supported various initiatives and programs proposed by the economic forum, including donating US$500,000 to the APEC Support Fund on Aug. 25, Huang said.
“The nation will continue to actively participate in the forum while endeavoring to deepen its cooperation and interactions with APEC members and serve as an innovator, sharer and service provider in regional economic and trading development,” Huang said.
Due to China’s oppression and obstruction, Taiwanese presidents have followed the practice of sending special envoys to the meeting instead of attending it in person.
PFP Culture and Publicity Department director Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that Soong is willing to help the government with anything that is conducive to national development and cross-strait peace.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
RSS