President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday continued to receive foreign dignitaries who traveled to Taiwan to participate in Monday’s inauguration ceremony, and congratulated Lai and expressed hopes to continue working with the nation.
In a meeting with former Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite, Lai said global situations and geopolitical strategies are changing rapidly and he hopes that both countries would step up collaborative efforts as they face significant challenges.
Taiwan and Lithuania are small countries trying to survive with strong and unfriendly neighbors, Grybauskaite said, adding that there is much the two nations could learn from each other.
Photo: CNA
In a meeting with Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine, Lai said he is looking forward to working with Heine to create regional peace and prosperity.
Heine said Marshallese are firmly committed to their pledge to be Taiwan’s most stalwart ally and would continue to advocate for the nation on the global stage.
In a meeting with Somaliland House of Elders First Deputy Speaker Said Jama Ali, Lai mentioned “Project Africa” and said he hopes that his administration would continue working with Somaliland.
We hope to broaden the areas we collaborate and thrive together, he said.
Ali congratulated Lai and Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) on their inauguration and said that Taiwan-Somaliland relations have continued to grow over the past few years, underscoring the friendship the two countries share.
Separately, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington held a celebratory event to mark the inauguration at the Twin Oaks estate, which US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul attended.
McCaul congratulated the Democratic Progressive Party on its historic third consecutive win and said Taiwan-US relations have never been closer than this year, which coincidentally was the 45th year of the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act.
McCaul said he had been reviewing the Chinese Communist Party’s military facilities near Taiwan before the event and said that China is trying to change the “status quo.”
McCaul quoted former US general Douglas MacArthur in defining Taiwan as “the unsinkable carrier” and said the general’s description was more prescient than he might have realized.
McCaul also announced that he would visit Taiwan again at the end of this month and address the situation of delayed US arms deliveries.
Representative to the US Alexander Yui (俞大?) said Lai had clearly stated Taiwan’s act of goodwill in terms of tourism and Chinese students, and called on Beijing to realize that it is speaking with a democratically elected president.
Beijing should not mistake cross-strait relations for cross-party relations and confine itself to dealing with one political party, Yui said.
Yui declined to comment on whether he would continue as a representative, saying: “If the president wants me on the job, I will stay on the job.”
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US
NINE-IN-ONE ELECTIONS: Prosecutors’ offices recorded 115 cases of alleged foreign interference in the presidential election campaign from August 2023 to Dec. 13 last year The National Security Bureau (NSB) yesterday said that it has begun planning early to counter Chinese interference in next year’s nine-in-one elections as its intelligence shows that Beijing might intensify its tactics, while warning of continued efforts to infiltrate the government and military. The bureau submitted a report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of a meeting today of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. “We will research situations in different localities and keep track of abnormalities to ensure that next year’s elections proceed without disruption,” the bureau said. Although the project is generally launched during election years, reports of alleged Chinese interference
RSS