Vice President William Lai (賴清德) is to serve as President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) envoy at the inauguration of Honduran president-elect Xiomara Castro on Thursday next week, the Presidential Office said yesterday.
It would be the first time that Lai travels overseas since he took office in May 2020.
Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said that Lai is to lead a delegation of 26 people, who are to depart Taipei on Tuesday next week.
Photo: Reuters
The delegation would depart Tegucigalpa on Friday next week and arrive back in Taiwan on Sunday next week, Chang said.
The delegation would transit in a third country, he said, without specifying when or disclosing the location, although Chinese-language media reported that the delegation would stop in Los Angeles.
Among the delegation would be Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and pandemic prevention experts, Chang said.
He did not say why Lai rather than Tsai herself is to attend the ceremony.
Asked about the stopover, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui (俞大㵢), who is responsible for Latin American affairs, refused to provide more details.
Arrangements are being made with authorities at the planned transit location and it would be made public soon, Yui said.
Lai might face issues if the stopover is in the US, because authorities there require visitors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with an approved vaccine.
Lai was vaccinated with the Taiwan-made Medigen vaccine, which is not yet on the US’ list of accepted COVID-19 vaccines.
Asked about the situation, Yui would only say that Lai would fully cooperate with local COVID-19 prevention measures.
All members of the delegation would follow COVID-19 prevention protocols throughout the trip, such as undergoing tests for the virus before and after the visit, Chang said.
After returning to Taiwan, Lai and the others would quarantine for 14 days and follow self-health management protocols for another seven days, Chang said.
While in Honduras, Yui said that Lai is expected to interact with foreign dignitaries at the ceremony, including US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is to lead a US delegation.
Lai would meet with Castro to convey Tsai’s congratulations and discuss matters related to bilateral ties, Yui said.
Castro’s win in the Nov. 28 presidential election made her the first female president of the Central American country, which first established diplomatic ties with Taiwan more than 80 years ago.
The victory of the 62-year-old wife of ousted former Honduran president Jose Manuel Zelaya had previously raised concerns about Honduran ties with Taiwan, as she said during her campaign that she might switch recognition to China if she won.
However, two senior members of Castro’s transition team last month said that the incoming government would maintain diplomatic ties with Taipei.
Also last month, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said Castro’s team had promised that Honduras’ diplomatic ties with Taiwan would remain unchanged.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique