The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that Panama, one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in Latin America, has issued an official invitation to president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to attend the inauguration ceremony of the newly expanded Panama Canal in June.
Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) said that the ministry has received a copy of the invitation addressed to Tsai and has forwarded it to her office.
Lin said that the invitation is important, because Tsai’s attendance at the ceremony would help cement diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Panama.
Democratic Progressive Party spokesperson Wang Min-sheng (王閔生) later yesterday said the party is aware of the invitation, but added it would brief the public after further discussions.
Panama’s Canal Authority Administrator Jorge Quijano on Wednesday said that an expansion to the Panama Canal is set open on June 26.
According to the BBC’s Chinese Web site, the Panama Canal Authority has sent formal invitation letters to the heads of state and government officials of 70 nations, including Tsai and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), to attend the opening ceremony.
Panama has a policy of maintaining diplomatic relations with Taiwan and commercial relations with China. China is the second-biggest user of the Panama Canal.
Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
TAIWAN DEFENSE: The initiative would involve integrating various systems in a fast-paced manner through the use of common software to obstruct a Chinese invasion The first tranche of the US Navy’s “Replicator” initiative aimed at obstructing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be ready by August, a US Naval Institute (USNI) News report on Tuesday said. The initiative is part of a larger defense strategy for Taiwan, and would involve launching thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was first made public by the Washington Post in June last year, when it cited comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue
Suspected Chinese spies posing as Taiwanese tourists have been arrested for allegedly taking photographs of Philippine Coast Guard ships, local media reported. The suspected spies stayed at a resort in Palawan, where from a secluded location they used their phones to record coast guard ships entering and leaving a base, Philippine TV network GMA said on Wednesday. Palawan is near the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) and other disputed areas of the South China Sea, where tensions have been on the rise between China and the Philippines. The suspects allegedly also used drones without permission and installed cameras on coconut trees in the