DIPLOMACY
Giammattei visits Taiwan
Guatemalan president-elect Alejandro Eduardo Giammattei yesterday arrived in Taiwan for a five-day visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Giammattei, who takes office in January, was elected in August. His visit with key members of his planned Cabinet demonstrates his support for the Taiwan-Guatemala friendship, the ministry said in a statement. Giammattei is to attend a banquet hosted by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), meet with Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), and visit government agencies, including the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Central America Trade Office and National Taiwan University Hospital, it said. He would also visit the National Palace Museum, Taipei 101, MiTAC Information Technology Corp and Kavalan Whiskey Distillery in Yilan, it added. Taiwan and Guatemala have long cooperated in a wide range of areas, including basic infrastructure, public health, education and agriculture, and would continue to strengthen their friendship, it said. Guatemala is one of Taiwan’s four diplomatic allies in Central America.
WEATHER
Storms to miss nation
Two Pacific storms — Typhoon Neoguri and Severe Tropical Storm Bualoi — are expected to move toward Japan and are not expected to directly affect Taiwan, the Central Weather Bureau said. As of 8am yesterday, Typhoon Neoguri was 760km east-northeast of Taiwan’s southernmost tip, Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), moving at 16kph in a north-northeasterly direction, it said. The typhoon is expected to weaken after reaching Japanese waters, the bureau said. Severe Tropical Storm Bualoi was 3,480km east-southeast of Oluanpi as of 8am, moving at 18kph in a west-northwesterly direction.
DIPLOMACY
US visa waiver extended
The government has received confirmation that the nation would remain part of the US visa waiver program, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday. The confirmation came on Tuesday last week in a letter from the American Institute in Taiwan, which the ministry said demonstrates the success of the two nations’ efforts to strengthen law enforcement cooperation. The ministry did not explain what led to the confirmation, but the US typically conducts periodic inspections to ensure that program members are following its protocols. The program allows residents of 38 member countries to travel to the US for tourism or business for periods of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa, according to the US Department of State.
SOCIETY
Passengers escape bus fire
Forty-one people on a tour bus near the Alishan (阿里山) scenic area in Chiayi County were safe after a fire broke out on the vehicle yesterday afternoon, the Chiayi County Fire Department said. The tour bus was passing through a tunnel at the 34.6km mark on Provincial Highway No. 18 at about 2pm when the vehicle caught fire, it said. All 41 people on the bus, including the driver, escaped unharmed, it added. The fire was promptly extinguished by firefighters, the department said. An initial probe showed that the fire was caused by a flat tire, investigators said. The Chiayi Motor Vehicles Office said it would launch an investigation to see whether the flat tire was caused by an accident or the age of the vehicle or tire, before deciding whether to fine the tour bus company.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai