The Kaohsiung City Government asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for administrative assistance with Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) 10-day US trip, which began yesterday, but while it would give assistance, it would not help him with accommodation and transportatin, because it was not asked to do so, deputy ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said yesterday in Taipei.
The ministry encourages city-to-city diplomacy, as diplomatic work requires collaboration from local and central governments across party lines, she said.
Han left a day ahead of schedule.
Photo: CNA
While there were rumors that he changed the schedule to be able to meet officials in Washington without media attention, the Kaohsiung City Government said the earlier departure was intended to give Han more time to adjust to the time difference between Taiwan and the US.
Han is scheduled to give talks at Harvard University and Stanford University, and meet with a retired ambassador and company representatives, the city government said.
He would not meet Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, but would meet Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Nina Hachigian in a private capacity, city officials said.
Before his departure, Han met with Taipei Forum chairman Su Chi (蘇起) — who as Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) chairman in 2000 coined the term “1992 consensus” — and a group of academics at Kaohsiung City Hall.
Asked about Han’s controversial visit to China’s Hong Kong Liaison Office, Su said people “took it too seriously.”
The visit did not involve the same level of political sensitivity that a visit by a central government official would, Su said.
Asked if they discussed the “1992 consensus” during the meeting, the mayor said no.
However, he shares the same idea as his academic visitors: that Kaohsiung should keep an open mind and promote its businesses and products to other places, Han said.
Additional reporting by Wang Jung-hsiang
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS