Vice President William Lai (賴清德) on Thursday spoke briefly with US Vice President Kamala Harris in their first public meeting, at the inauguration of Honduran President Xiomara Castro.
As the last government envoy introduced at the packed sports stadium where the ceremony was held, Harris greeted the international leaders present, including Lai, who was sitting in the front row near Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada and King Felipe VI of Spain.
Lai and Harris spoke briefly, the first time the vice presidents have interacted at a public event since taking office in 2020 and last year respectively.
Photo: CNA
Commenting on their impromptu conversation, which the international media characterized as “highly symbolic,” Harris told reporters after the inauguration that she and Lai talked about “a common interest in this part of the region.”
Their conversation also touched on “Taiwan’s interest in our root causes strategy,” Harris said, referring to the US’ efforts to curb migration.
Reuters described the encounter as “likely to add to Beijing’s tensions with Washington.”
Photo: AFP / Honduran presidency
Speaking at a news conference with Taiwanese reporters, Lai declined to reveal what he and Harris discussed, saying only that he thanked the US vice president for her country’s support of Taiwan.
Lai also posted a photograph on Facebook of him among a group of people including King Felipe.
Lai is leading a delegation to Honduras to attend Castro’s inauguration and meet with officials from its new government.
He was yesterday to return home via San Francisco.
The Presidential Office said that Lai invited Castro to visit Taiwan during a bilateral meeting held after she was sworn in.
During the meeting, Lai extended the invitation to Castro on behalf of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), and expressed Taiwan’s continued support for the Honduran government as it pushes for economic reform and fights against corruption, the office said.
As Tsai and Castro are the first female presidents of their respective countries, their meeting would be a testament to global efforts to promote women’s empowerment, the office quoted Lai as saying.
Lai also proposed that Taiwan, Honduras and the US collaborate on “helping Honduras solve various problems,” the office said, without providing specifics.
Additional reporting by Reuters
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS