Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) left for the US last night, vowing to improve the US’ understanding of Taiwan's position on arms procurement and other issues.
Approached by reporters in the legislature earlier yesterday, Wang said he would communicate to the US the importance of arms procurements for Taiwan and the need to seek a free trade agreement with the US.
The legislative speaker said he would also take the occasion to promote Taiwan’s efforts to cut carbon emissions and conserve energy and to highlight the value of Taiwan’s democratic development, which he said Washington should cherish.
Wang said he would help senior US politicians, members of Congress and academics at think tanks to understand the nation’s standpoints on key issues.
Wang is traveling to the US at the invitation of the Heritage Foundation, where he will deliver a speech titled “New beginning in a strong alliance” on a topic chosen by the foundation: renewing the Taiwan-US relationship.
Wang declined to elaborate on who he would meet during his trip.
Wang is scheduled to arrive in New York, where he will host a banquet for the UN representatives of the nation’s allies. He is also scheduled to throw the opening ball at a game between the New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals at Shea Stadium tomorrow.
He will hold a press conference at the Twin Oak Garden in Washington next Wednesday and return to Taiwan on Aug. 3.
In related developments, Wang is scheduled to visit Narashi, Japan, on Aug. 7, where he will meet Japanese politicians.
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. The single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 400,000 and 800,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, saber-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. A single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 800,000 to 400,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, sabre-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
RSS