The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would interact naturally with representatives of China and other nations without diplomatic ties with Taiwan at the inauguration ceremony of the newly expanded Panama Canal later this month, as it released more details of Tsai’s first overseas state visit.
“From the ministry’s understanding, China will be sending the deputy head of its Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Outward Investment and Economic Cooperation, who is relatively low-ranking, to attend the ceremony,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Hou (侯清山) told a news conference at the Presidential Office.
Hou said Tsai is expected to have “natural interactions” with Beijing’s representative at the ceremony on June 26 in Panama, just as she would with representatives of Taiwan’s other non-diplomatic allies.
Photo: CNA
It means Tsai would not be indifferent to the representatives should they approach to say hello and might respond by giving a nod, Hou said, adding that Tsai is also likely to hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of the nation’s nine diplomatic allies invited to attend the ceremony.
According to Tsai’s itinerary, she is to embark on her nine-day trip on Friday next week and arrive the next day in Panama, where she is scheduled to attend the inauguration ceremony on June 26 before departing for Paraguay the next day.
During her stay in Paraguay, Tsai is to meet with Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes and deliver a speech to the parliament, before leaving on June 30.
Tsai’s chartered plane is set to touch down at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on July 2.
The president is to be accompanied by National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Presidential Office deputy secretaries-general Jason Liu (劉建忻) and Harry Tseng (曾厚仁), Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) and seven businesspeople from the food, solar energy, high-tech textiles and power generation sectors.
Hou said the government is hoping to demonstrate its sincerity in strengthening ties with its diplomatic allies through Tsai’s visit, which he termed the Ying Hsiang Project (英翔專案).
Given the nation’s allies’ expectations to enhance bilateral trade and investment ties, Hou said the president’s overseas visit has also set itself the mission of encouraging Taiwanese companies to make investment trips to the nations in the hopes of creating mutually beneficial relationships.
“In addition to visiting the two diplomatic allies, Tsai is also scheduled to transit through two US cities: Miami on her way to Panama and Los Angeles on her way back,” Hou said, adding that Taipei and Washington are still ironing out the details of the stops.
Asked whether China is upset by Tsai’s transit stops in the US and whether the government has sought to communicate with Beijing on the matter, Hou said Tsai’s overseas state visit is a matter for Taiwan to decide without sounding out the opinions of other nations.
“We have established a tacit understanding with the US and it is the primary nation with which we have coordinated,” Hou added.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
RSS