President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday afternoon left Taiwan on a 10-day trip to Central America that includes stopovers in New York and Los Angeles.
“Through this visit, I will express my gratitude to diplomatic partners for their support of Taiwan,” Tsai said at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport shortly before boarding the plane.
The trip to Guatemala and Belize — her first overseas journey since the COVID-19 pandemic began sweeping around the world in early 2020 — aims to “demonstrate Taiwan’s determination to deepen exchanges” with its Central American allies, she said.
Photo: RITCHIE B. TONGO, EPA-EFE
Tsai said that she and her delegation would also explore the possibility of expanding cooperation with Taiwan’s allies and partners in the areas of agriculture, public health, women’s empowerment, the digital economy and supply chain security.
As Taiwan plays “an indispensable role” in the restructuring of global supply chains, it must work with other countries and contribute to the economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 era, she added.
The presidential delegation would stop over in New York en route to Guatemala and Los Angeles after visiting Belize, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Photo: Taiwan Presidential Office via AP
Tsai is to arrive in New York at 3am today and spend nearly two days in the city, where she is expected to address an event hosted by the Hudson Institute and receive a “global leadership award” from the think tank.
On her return trip, Tsai is to touch down on Wednesday next week in Los Angeles, where she is expected to meet with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy and deliver a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
The president would be in Guatemala from Saturday to Monday and Belize from Monday to Wednesday, the ministry said.
She is to meet with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei and Belizean Prime Minister John Briceno, as well as Taiwan’s technical missions and expatriates in both countries.
Tsai is to land in Taiwan on Friday next week, although the ministry has not yet announced her arrival time.
Despite a lack of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and the US, Washington has over the years allowed Taiwan’s presidents to make stopovers on US soil during their trips to Latin American and Caribbean nations.
US Department of State spokesperson Vedant Patel said earlier this week that Tsai’s transits in the US are “consistent with longstanding US practice, the unofficial nature of our relations with Taiwan and US policy, which remains unchanged.”
However, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) yesterday told a news briefing in Beijing that Tsai’s stopovers in the US constitute an act of “provocation.”
Beijing would “resolutely fight back” with certain measures should Tsai and McCarthy meet, Zhu said.
The delegation traveling with Tsai consists of Presidential Office Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi (陳正祺), among other officials.
The delegation also includes four legislators: Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀) and Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) of the Democratic Progressive Party, Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠) of the Taiwan People’s Party and Claire Wang (王婉諭) of the New Power Party.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
RSS