About 50 foreign delegations are to attend the inauguration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Monday next week, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Wednesday, including leaders of allied nations and a group of former officials from the US.
The number of visitors underscores the importance other countries pay to Taiwan’s democracy, Wu told reporters ahead of a legislative session in Taipei.
Visitors are to include representatives from the Vatican, Haiti and 10 other countries with which Taiwan has formal diplomatic relations, he said.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
Eswatini is expected to send a 120-person delegation, the largest of all attendants, he added.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrance Drew and their entourages are expected to land in Taiwan early this morning, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) reported.
Also expected to arrive today are Tuvaluan Prime Minister Feleti Teo, Belizean Prime Minister John Antonio Briceno, Saint Lucian Prime Minister Philip Joseph Pierre, Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr and Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine and their entourages.
The Eswatini delegation’s landing time had not been confirmed as of press time last night.
Paraguayan President Santiago Pena and Guatemalan Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Ramiro Martinez are expected to arrive on Sunday.
Washington is sending an unofficial delegation, including two former government officials, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement late on Wednesday.
The delegation is to comprise former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage; Brian Deese, former assistant to the president and director of the National Economic Council (NEC); former AIT chair Richard Bush; AIT Chairwoman Laura Rosenberger; and AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk, it said.
Deese served as the 13th director of the NEC from 2021 to last year and as senior adviser to then-US president Barack Obama from 2015 to 2017.
Armitage was deputy secretary of state from 2001 to 2005 during the administration of then-US president George W. Bush.
The members are to attend Lai’s inauguration ceremony on Monday and meet with several leading figures in Taiwan, the AIT said.
“They will convey congratulations from the American people to Dr Lai Ching-te on his inauguration as Taiwan’s fifth democratically elected president, and to the Taiwan people for once again demonstrating the strength of their robust democratic system,” it said.
The delegation would also emphasize the US’ “longstanding commitment in maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” it added.
In Washington, a White House official on Wednesday said that for more than 20 years US delegations composed of former government officials have visited Taiwan after its presidential elections and attended the inauguration of the elected leaders.
The inauguration is “part of a normal routine democratic process,” the official told reporters on condition of anonymity to disclose details of the trip before they were formally announced.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also has announced that he will attend President-elect Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) presidential inauguration ceremony as a private individual, Voice of America reported yesterday.
Pompeo made the announcement while speaking at the Hudson Institute in Washington on Wednesday. In an interview with Radio Free Asia, Pompeo said he is pleased to have the opportunity to attend the inauguration ceremony and celebrate with the new leadership, adding that he is confident the new leadership will continue to work for the people of Taiwan, putting Taiwan first.
Meanwhile, a Canadian delegation has already arrived in Taiwan in a show of support for the nation’s democracy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Wu hosted a banquet for the 11-member delegation led by Canadian lawmaker Judy Sgro on Wednesday and thanked the Canadian parliament for “sparing no effort to support” Taiwan’s international participation, his ministry said.
“Sgro’s visit to Taiwan to attend the inauguration ceremony of our country’s president and vice president is a show of support and recognition for democratic Taiwan,” it said in a statement.
Sgro is the chairperson of Canada’s committee of international trade.
Additional reporting by Tony Yao and AFP
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