US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy is to visit Taipei today and tomorrow to mark 20 years of US-Taiwan cooperation on environmental issues, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said yesterday.
McCarthy is the first Cabinet-level official to visit Taiwan in nearly 14 years. The last was then-US secretary of transportation Rodney Slate in June 2000.
McCarthy will meet with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Environmental Protection Administration officials, AIT said.
She is scheduled to start today with an early morning visit to Jian-An Elementary School to see its low-carbon classroom, ecological area and launch a new partnership on environmental education.
After that, she will head to National Taiwan University, where she will deliver a speech and tour an exhibition celebrating 20 years of US-Taiwan partnerships on environmental issues, the institute said.
McCarthy will also meet with members of the US business community in Taiwan, according to a statement released by her agency.
Her visit to Taipei “will advance regional and global cooperation under EPA’s 20-year partnership with Environmental Protection Administration Taiwan,” the statement said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed McCarthy’s visit to strengthen bilateral exchanges on the environment.
McCarthy had reportedly planned to visit in December last year, but the trip was canceled because of US displeasure with Taiwanese media, who broke the story before McCarthy’s scheduled arrival, according to Chinese-language media reports at the time.
However, Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the reports, saying that no visit had been planned.
AIT spokesman Mark Zimmer told the Central News Agency at the time that “there is no visit planned at this time, but Administrator McCarthy plans to visit Taiwan at a later time.”
McCarthy will leave Taipei tomorrow to head to Hanoi, the US official’s agency said.
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
SECURITY: Taipei presses the US for arms supplies, saying the arms sales are not only a reflection of the US security commitment to Taiwan but also serve as a mutual deterrent against regional threats Taiwan is committed to preserving the cross-strait “status quo” and contributing to regional peace and stability, the Presidential Office said yesterday. “It is an undeniable fact that the Republic of China is a sovereign and independent democratic nation,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) reiterated, adding that Beijing has no right to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. The statements came after US President Donald Trump warned against Taiwanese independence. Trump wrapped up a state visit to Beijing on Friday, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had pressed him not to support Taiwan. Taiwan depends heavily on US security backing to deter China from carrying
The subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in Kumamoto, Japan, turned a profit in the first quarter of this year, marking the first time the first fab of the unit has become profitable since mass production started at the end of 2024. According to the contract chipmaker’s financial statement released on Friday, Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc (JASM), a joint venture running the fab in Kumamoto, posted NT$951 million (US$30.19 million) in profit in the January-to-March period, compared with a loss of NT$1.39 billion in the previous quarter, and a loss of NT$3.25 billion in the first quarter of
RESOLUTE BACKING: Two Republican senators are planning to introduce legislation that would impose immediate sanctions on China if it attempts to invade Taiwan US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday reaffirmed US congressional support for Taiwan, saying the US and “all freedom-loving people” have a stake in preventing China from seizing Taiwan by force. Johnson made the remarks in an interview with Fox News Sunday on US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last week. In an interview that aired on Friday on Fox News, just as Trump wrapped up a high-stakes visit to China, he said he has yet to green-light a new US$14 billion arms package to Taiwan and that it “depends on China.” “It’s a very good
RSS