Vice President William Lai (賴清德) was welcomed by overseas Taiwanese upon his arrival in New York on Saturday evening for a stopover en route to Paraguay.
While still on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Lai was greeted by American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Managing Director Ingrid Larson, as well as Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴).
“Welcome to NYC, Vice President @chingtelai, as you transit en route to Paraguay! I’m glad AIT/W Managing Director Larson can host you and your delegation while I am at my sister’s wedding,” AIT Chair Laura Rosenberger wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Photo: Reuters
“I look forward to seeing you in San Francisco!” she added, referring to Lai’s stopover in the US on his way back to Taiwan on Wednesday.
After arriving by motorcade at the Lotte New York Palace hotel on Madison Avenue at about 10pm, Lai briefly greeted and shook hands with supporters waving Republic of China flags before making his way into the hotel.
With Taiwan’s presidential election just five months away, the visit by Lai, who is the Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential nominee, has garnered attention.
Photo: Reuters
Before his arrival, the street across from the hotel was filled with Taiwanese and some members of the Chinese expatriate community who support Taiwan.
During their more than two-hour wait, the supporters chanted slogans such as “Taiwan, go for it,” “Fight for freedom” and “Keep Taiwan free.”
Among those present were Taiwanese compatriots from Washington, Boston and Pittsburgh, including Lai Chia-te (賴嘉德), who said that democracy and freedom are Taiwan’s most cherished values, emphasizing the importance of preserving Taiwan’s freedom and the people’s hopes.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan’s Presidential Office
An invitation sent to the overseas Taiwanese community by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York said that the vice president was scheduled to attend a luncheon with members of the community on Sunday at The Glasshouse, a private event space in New York.
A person familiar with the trip’s planning said that William Lai would not meet with US lawmakers, adding that he would keep his visit “low key,” in line with Taipei and Washington’s shared position to “jointly manage risks when facing an authoritarian region at this sensitive time.”
The vice president and his delegation are expected to fly to Paraguay on a chartered flight at about 10pm tonight to attend tomorrow’s inauguration of Paraguayan president-elect Santiago Pena.
The New York Times yesterday reported that William Lai “is likely to present a more muted persona when he visits the United States.”
“As Mr Lai vies to succeed President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who has a determinedly buttoned-down manner, he is also seeking to assure Taiwanese voters, and probably Washington, that he can be a steady pair of hands,” it said.
“Mr Lai has sought to douse anxieties that he would pursue drastic changes in Taiwan’s status if elected. He has said that his comments about being a ‘pragmatic worker for Taiwanese independence’ just meant that he wanted to more fully exercise Taiwan’s current sovereignty,” it added.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday condemned the brief US visit by William Lai, saying that he was a separatist and “troublemaker through and through,” adding that Beijing would take strong steps to protect its sovereignty.
In Taipei, Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said that China is using the visit as an excuse “to create regional anxiety and trouble.”
Taiwanese officials last week said that China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using Lai’s US stopovers as a pretext to intimidate voters ahead of next year’s election and make them “fear war.”
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command, which is responsible for the area around Taiwan, yesterday posted on its WeChat account a short video of fighter jets practicing dog fights at an undisclosed location, saying that its forces had recently been engaged in “high-intensity flight training.”
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2
PLAN: Nations would receive US$5m a year if they could advance Taiwan’s international participation, diversify supply chains away from China or counter Beijing’s influence The US House of Representatives Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the US and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Friday introduced a bill that would approve US$120 million to be spent on supporting Taiwan’s international space and tackling coercion by China. The bipartisan legislation — the Taiwan Allies Fund Act — was proposed ahead of the inauguration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on May 20. The committee said in a statement that the bill “strengthens Taiwan’s global network of friends by authorizing [US]$120 million over three years for the State Department and USAID [US Agency
SELF-SUFFICIENCY: The project would only be the beginning, as Taiwan needs at least 120 satellites to ensure uninterrupted communication, Wu Tsung-tsong said The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday said it plans to launch six low Earth orbit satellites starting in 2026 as part of the government’s plan to boost the resilience of the nation’s communications. The development of the technology gained attention after Ukrainians were able to access the Internet through Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) CEO Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service, despite their infrastructure being severely damaged in the war with Russia. Two of the satellites would be built by the government, while four would involve cooperation between TASA and private contractors. “Over the past 30 years, the satellite technology in Taiwan has
‘DIGITAL SOLIDARITY’: Taiwan, the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are to install and operate a cable that would connect up to 100,000 people in the Pacific Islands Taiwan, the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are working together to install undersea cables as a demonstration of digital solidarity, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday. Blinken talked about the cooperation in a speech he delivered at the RSA Conference in San Francisco. He said that the US International Cyberspace and Digital Strategy launched by the US Department of State “treats digital solidarity as our North Star.” “Solidarity informs our approach not only to digital technologies, but to all key foundational technologies,” Blinken said. Under the strategy, the US is to work with international partners “to shape the design, development,