Nauruan President Russ Joseph Kun and a 43-member delegation of the Japan-ROC Diet Members’ Consultative Council are to attend the main Double Ten National Day celebration in Taipei next week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Kun and his wife are to lead a 17-member delegation to Taiwan from Sunday to Thursday next week at the government’s invitation “to demonstrate the importance of its diplomatic relations with Taiwan and its strong support for the nation,” the ministry said.
In addition to participating in the celebration, Kun is to give an opening speech at the Yushan Forum on Wednesday and meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), it said.
Photo: CNA
Japanese Representative Keiji Furuya, chair of the council, is to head the Japanese delegation to Taiwan from tomorrow to Tuesday, Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Deputy Secretary-General Fan Chen-kuo (范振國) said.
The Japanese delegation was initially opened for 30 council members, but was increased to 43 due to the great enthusiasm from Japanese parliamentarians, he said.
During the Double Ten National Day celebration, the delegation is to march with Taiwanese legislators and members of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association to display the friendship between the two sides, he said.
The delegation is also to meet with Tsai, Wu, Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫?) and Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Chairman Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), he said.
In related news, US Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, shouted “I love Taiwan” and reaffirmed the US’ support for Taiwan at the Double Ten National Day party held by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington.
McCaul, American Institute in Taiwan Chair Laura Rosenberger, the ambassadors to the US from Guatemala, Paraguay, Palau, Belize and Eswatini attended the party at Twin Oaks Estate in Washington on Wednesday, the office said in a press release yesterday.
Renowned Taiwanese beer and liquor was served at the party, including wine from Taichung’s Shu Sheng Leisure Domaine (樹生酒莊) and Weightstone (威石東酒莊), liquor from Hcwine (恆器製酒), sake from the Wu-Feng Farmers’ Association (霧峰鄉農會), whiskey from Kavalan (噶瑪蘭) and Taiwan Beer, it said.
Addressing the party, McCaul repeatedly shouted “I love Taiwan” in Mandarin and English, adding that as the committee chairman, he would ensure that Taiwan has the weapons and training it needs to counter China’s increasingly provocative military threats.
Asked whether the ousting of Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the US House of Representatives would affect US’ support for Taiwan, McCaul responded with a firm “no.”
Rosenberger said that the US-Taiwan partnership has grown closer than ever during the past year.
She added that she looked forward to welcoming Taiwan’s APEC delegation in San Francisco next month, when Taiwan would be able to showcase its long-term economic contributions.
The world can learn a lot from Taiwan — a beacon of democracy — in fields such as technological development, women’s economic empowerment and disease prevention, she said.
Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) thanked Washington for its increased, cross-party support for Taiwan.
Other politicians, including close to 100 members of the US Congress, and the governors of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Delaware, expressed their good wishes through congratulatory letters and statements, the office said.
Separately, any unilateral change to the cross-strait “status quo” is unacceptable, Finnish Parliamentary Friendship Group first vice chair Atte Harjanne said at the Double Ten National Day party held by the Taipei Representative Office in Finland on Tuesday.
As a highly developed and capable nation that can make a lot of contributions to the world, Taiwan should be allowed to have its own voice and contribute professional knowledge in international organizations, Harjanne said.
As with Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, unsolicited shows of force, provocations and reckless live-fire exercises across the Taiwan Strait are also unacceptable, he said.
Any cross-strait conflict would have disastrous consequences for the world economy, he said, adding that freedom and democracy must be defended.
Additional reporting by CNA
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
RSS