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.
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS