President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) special envoy to this weekend’s APEC leadership summit arrived in Da Nang, Vietnam, yesterday without a key member of his delegation because of visa problems.
Before departing from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport just before noon yesterday, People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) said he would “let the world see Taiwan’s efforts and sincerity” during his mission.
His delegation would help the world see that Taiwan is indispensable to global economic development, he said.
However, Soong arrived in Da Nang without the delegation spokesman and chief adviser, Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), who heads the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said Deng had yet to get a visa from Vietnam due to delays in Vietnamese administrative procedures, and the ministry was still trying to sort out the problem.
Soong is expected to meet privately with some of the APEC leaders during his stay in Da Nang, and it has been confirmed that he will hold bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the summit on Saturday or Sunday, an aide to Soong said.
Soong is also hopeful of meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
He said on Monday that Taiwan is keen to get along well with China and that peace and stability are desired by both sides, and the he would “once again express this view” if the opportunity to meet with Xi arises.
Taiwan’s presidents are unable to attend APEC summits due to China’s objections and have to appoint envoys in their place.
Tsai chose Soong to be her envoy for the second consecutive year.
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
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai