President William Lai (賴清德) currently has no plans to travel overseas, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said yesterday, denying media reports that a planned trip to Paraguay via New York was blocked by the US.
At a routine news conference, Hsiao denied a Financial Times report that said Lai’s planned visits to diplomatic allies Paraguay, Guatemala and Belize had been delayed or canceled due to US President Donald Trump blocking a stopover in New York following protests from China.
The Financial Times, which cited three anonymous sources for its story, said that Trump was concerned that Lai’s trip would affect ongoing trade talks between the US and China.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
Hsiao said that Lai did not have any overseas travel arrangements because of ongoing recovery efforts in southern Taiwan following Typhoon Danas and international developments such as tariff negotiations with the US.
Any finalized overseas itinerary would be announced by the Presidential Office in line with usual procedures, he said.
Hsiao’s statement was nearly identical to that made on Monday night by Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧), as the government responded to questions about a trip that had reportedly been planned, but not yet formally announced.
An Agence France-Presse report on July 14 cited Paraguayan President Santiago Pena as saying at an investment forum that Lai would visit his country “in 30 days.”
At the time Pena made the comment, he was hosting a delegation comprising about 30 business leaders and Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in Asuncion.
Bloomberg News reported two days later that Lai was planning to stop in New York on Monday next week and then Dallas 10 days later as part of a trip to diplomatic allies Paraguay, Guatemala and Belize.
However, a Bloomberg report on Monday said that plans for the trip were thrown into flux late last week when Taiwan could not get the US to give the green light.
Like the Financial Times, the Bloomberg report also cited the Trump administration’s concern that Lai’s stopovers in the US could derail trade talks with China.
The American Institute in Taiwan, responding to an inquiry about the matter, said that it could not comment on hypothetical questions, as Taiwan had not announced the president’s visit.
Meanwhile, the US Department of State yesterday said that its policies for stopovers by Taiwanese leaders have not changed.
“The United States remains committed to our longstanding ‘one China’ policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint Communiques and the ‘six assurances,’” a state department spokesperson told the Central News Agency on condition of anonymity.
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
SAFETY FIRST: Double the number of police were deployed at the Taipei Marathon, while other cities released plans to bolster public event safety Authorities across Taiwan have stepped up security measures ahead of Christmas and New Year events, following a knife and smoke bomb attack in Taipei on Friday that left four people dead and 11 injured. In a bid to prevent potential copycat incidents, police deployments have been expanded for large gatherings, transport hubs, and other crowded public spaces, according to official statements from police and city authorities. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city has “comprehensively raised security readiness” in crowded areas, increased police deployments with armed officers, and intensified patrols during weekends and nighttime hours. For large-scale events, security checkpoints and explosives
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
RSS