Former British prime minister Liz Truss is to visit Taiwan next week from Tuesday to Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release yesterday.
“Taiwan is a beacon of freedom and democracy. I’m looking forward to showing solidarity with the Taiwanese people in person in the face of increasingly aggressive behavior and rhetoric from the regime in Beijing,” Truss said upon announcing the visit.
The planned visit demonstrates Truss’ firm support for Taiwan and the close friendship between Taiwan and the UK, the ministry said.
Photo: AP
Truss has been a friend of Taiwan for a long time, and repeatedly underscored the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait when she was British secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs in 2021 and last year, and continued to voice support for Taiwan afterward, it said.
The UK “must ensure that democracies like Taiwan are able to defend themselves,” she said in a speech regarding her foreign policy in April last year.
The West must learn from its mistakes in failing to deter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and apply those lessons to Taiwan to “protect peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” she said at the NATO summit in Madrid in June last year.
Photo: CNA
Truss is to meet with government leaders, and people in business and academia, as well as deliver a speech on Wednesday next week at the invitation of the Prospect Foundation, the ministry said.
In other news, visiting Saint Kitts and Nevis Deputy Prime Minister Geoffrey Hanley invited Vice President William Lai (賴清德) to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Caribbean country’s independence in September.
Hanley, who arrived on Monday leading a delegation that is to stay until Friday, met with Lai at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Saint Kitts and Nevis’ independence, as well as its diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Hanley said.
The partnership between the two nations is formed on the basis of democracy, peace and the rule of law, he said.
The spirit of unity gives both sides confidence to face global challenges together, including climate change and the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, he said, adding that Taiwan can make meaningful contributions to his country.
Taiwan has provided great help to Saint Kitts and Nevis in education, such as working with the country’s Ministry of Education to train young people and encourage them to undergo higher education, he said.
He invited Taiwanese students to visit Saint Kitts and Nevis to learn English, the country’s official language.
Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrance Drew invited President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to attend the independence anniversary when he visited Taiwan in November last year, adding that he would like to extend the same invitation to Lai.
Taiwan was the first country to form diplomatic relations with Saint Kitts and Nevis after its independence in 1983, after which the two sides have been supporting each other and maintaining a strong partnership, Lai said.
Taiwan has been working closely with the ally in a diverse range of fields with great success, including education, public health, infrastructure, information and communications, waste treatment and green energy, he said.
Lai thanked the Congress of St Kitts and Nevis for passing resolutions last month to support Taiwan’s participation in international organizations such as the WHO, the International Civil Aviation Organization and Interpol.
Hanley, who is also minister of education, is dedicated to promoting special education, and vocational education and training, Lai said.
Lai wished Hanley a fruitful trip, during which he is to visit Wenshan School of Special Education, Taipei Municipal Daan Vocational High School and the Workforce Development Agency.
The delegation also met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday and attended a banquet with him.
The two countries have had a profound friendship for 40 years and would continue to strengthen bilateral ties based upon the sound foundation, Hanley said.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US