Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) is to visit Tuvalu to meet its newly elected officials later this month or next month, while Nauruan President Lionel Aingimea is to conduct his first state visit in Taiwan in December, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
To strengthen Taiwan-Tuvalu collaboration, Hsu is to meet with the ally’s officials in the second half of this month or the first half of next month, Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Director-General Baushuan Ger (葛葆萱) said at a news conference in Taipei.
In addition to the Tuvalu visit, the ministry is also arranging for high-ranking officials to visit other allies, he said.
Photo: CNA
Asked if the ministry has invited its Pacific allies to the Double Ten National Day celebrations on Thursday next week, Ger said that the ministry had not sent specific invitations, but had invited Tuvalu and Nauru to visit Taiwan as they have just held elections.
Aingimea — elected in August — is to visit in December, while the date of the visit by Tuvaluan Prime Minister Kausea Natano, elected last month, is still to be confirmed, Ger said.
Palauan Minister of State Faustina Rehuher-Marugg plans to attend the national day celebrations, he added.
More than 200 Japanese officials and members of civic groups are also to attend the national day celebrations, Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Secretary-General Kuo Chung-shi (郭仲熙) said.
Japanese Representative Keiji Furuya is to lead a delegation of more than 30 parliamentary officials to the celebrations on Wednesday and Thursday next week, while Japanese Representative Seishiro Eto is to lead another delegation of 18 to attend related events from Wednesday to Friday, Kuo said.
Fourteen Japanese civic groups friendly to Taiwan are also to bring nearly 150 members to join the celebrations, he added.
The list of visiting delegations has not yet been finalized, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said when asked about visitors to the celebrations from other nations.
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday said separately that AIT Director Brent Christensen plans to attend the national day celebrations along with several other institute members.
While US Senior Official for APEC and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands Sandra Oudkirk on Thursday last week said at a congressional hearing that she plans to visit Taiwan in the next two weeks, the AIT yesterday neither confirmed nor denied that she would join the celebrations.
Meanwhile, Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod is today to end his visit to Palau as a special envoy appointed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to attend the ally’s independence day celebrations and related events yesterday, the ministry said.
Icyang on Monday met Palauan President Tommy Remengesau to relay a congratulatory letter from Tsai and Remengesau thanked Taiwan for supporting Palau’s development over the past 25 years, the ministry said.
Icyang also attended the International Austronesian Languages Revitalization Forum staged under the Taiwan-US-Japan Global Cooperation and Training Framework, as well as the forum’s executive committee meeting on Sunday and Monday, it added.
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