President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday embarked on his 11th overseas visit since coming to office in 2008, a trip that is to take him to the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Nicaragua for talks with heads of state including Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.
On his way to the Caribbean, Ma plans to visit Harvard University, his alma mater, during a transit stop in Boston.
He is expected to give a speech at a university gathering, officials said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Before boarding a China Airlines charter flight at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday, Ma said he hopes to deepen bilateral cooperation with the nation’s allies during the trip.
While in the Dominican Republic, Ma is to deliver a speech to the nation’s Congress and hold talks with Dominican President Danilo Medina, officials said.
In Haiti, Ma and Haitian President Michel Martelly are to jointly inaugurate a new office building constructed for the nation’s Supreme Court.
The project, built with help from Taiwan, took two years to finish and is the first among similar construction projects to have been completed after Haiti was devastated by an earthquake in 2010.
In 2013, Ma became the first president from Taiwan to set foot in the Caribbean nation since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1956.
While in Nicaragua, Ma is to meet with Ortega and visit Taiwanese businesses.
He is also expected to be presented with a key to the city during a visit to historical Granada.
Although the purpose of such visits is to bolster ties with Taiwan’s allies in the region, the president’s activities during transits in the US often attract as much — if not more — attention from Taiwanese media as his official itinerary.
In an interview last week, Ma spoke of the topics he might cover in his speech and a follow-up discussion at Harvard.
Cross-strait ties, domestic politics and issues concerning the South China Sea and the East Asian region are bound to come up during the discussion, since Taiwan is at the heart of these topics, said Ma, who received his degree from Harvard Law School in 1981.
The overnight transit is to be the first in Boston for a sitting president, although Ma visited Harvard nine years ago as mayor of Taipei and a presidential candidate.
Ma is due to return to Taiwan on Saturday after a stopover in Los Angeles.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old