A delegation of six high-ranking US lawmakers yesterday arrived in Taipei for a one-day visit as part of their Asia tour.
US Senator Lindsey Graham, who is ranking member of the US Senate Budget Committee, is leading the delegation, which also includes US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, a Democrat, and Republican senators Richard Burr, Ben Sasse and Rob Portman.
Republican Representative Ronny Jackson is the only US House of Representatives member on the visit.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Burr is ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, while Portman is ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
The group touched down at 7:40pm at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) on a US military aircraft, where they were received by Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a news release welcoming the visitors.
Before departing today, they are to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) to “exchange views on various important issues related to Taiwan-US relations,” the ministry said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
They are also to attend a banquet organized by Wu, it said.
This is the first US congressional delegation to visit Taiwan this year, after a trip reportedly planned by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week was canceled after she tested positive for COVID-19.
The group is on an Asia tour as US lawmakers gradually resume international travel after years of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
Photo: CNA
Graham took the initiative to include Taiwan on the itinerary to “demonstrate the high regard and firm support US lawmakers from both parties have for Taiwan,” the ministry said.
Also yesterday, a visiting Swedish and European parliamentary delegation held a news conference in Taipei before their scheduled departure in the evening.
The representatives emphasized their unified support for Taiwan, despite representing a vast coalition of parties.
The visit was to send a signal of support from Europe to Taiwan, and to make sure “such signal is heard all across the Taiwan Strait,” Member of the European Parliament Charlie Weimers said.
“We want to let Beijing know that, over in Europe, we know Taiwan and care for Taiwan,” Weimers said.
Swedish Parliament Deputy Speaker Kerstin Lundgren said she was warned by Beijing not to visit, but added that the message only proved the need to support Taiwan.
Lundgren said that her chamber would soon debate changing the name of Sweden’s representation in Taiwan in an effort to “scale up” the office.
Currently named the “Swedish Trade and Invest Council,” the parliamentarians next week would debate renaming the office “House of Sweden,” which is also the name for the country’s embassy in Washington.
The change would show that the entity promotes other bilateral links besides just business, Lundgren said.
Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) also met with the Swedish and European delegation earlier in the day to thank them for their support.
Additional reporting by CNA
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