While the Japanese government considers whether to issue a travel visa for former president Lee Teng-hui (
Mackay was a doctor and missionary who came to Taiwan in 1872 and founded the Mackay Memorial Hospital in Tamsui, Taipei County, 100 years ago. The hospital is one of the most prestigious in northern Taiwan. Tamsui is also Lee's hometown.
According to a Toronto newspaper, Mayor John Geoghegan of the city of Woodstock, Ontario, has sent an invitation to Lee to visit the city to attend the ceremony slated for June 2.
Sources from Toronto's Presbyterian Church said that Woodstock decided to invite the former Taiwan president to Canada for three reasons. First, Lee is an alumnus of the Tamkang High School in Tamsui, a school established by Mackay more than 110 years ago. Second, Lee is now a resident of Tamsui, the coastal town in which Mackay spent most of his years in Taiwan. Third, Lee is a devout member of the Presbyterian Church, of which Mackay was a missionary.
The sources noted that the first hospital that Mackay established in Taiwan was located in Tamsui. Still in operation is Oxford College, located near Tamkang High School in the hills of Tamsui, which was also established by Mackay and named in memory of his home county of Oxford.
Whether Lee will be able to make time in his tight schedule to visit Canada in early June remains to be seen, the sources from the Toronto Presbyterian Church said.
"The likelihood of his visiting will increase if Lee's plan to visit Cornell University in the United States in May proceeds smoothly," said Lo I-shih (羅益世), former head of the Toronto office of the World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce.
CLOSURES: Several forest recreation areas have been closed as a precaution, while some ferry and flight services have been suspended or rescheduled A land warning for Tropical Storm Danas was issued last night at 8:30pm, as the storm’s outer bands began bringing heavy rain to southeastern regions, including Hualien and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島), according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 9:15pm, the storm was approximately 330km west-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, moving north-northeast at 10-20kph, the CWA reported. A sea warning had already been issued at 8:30am yesterday. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 83kph, with gusts of up to 108kph, according to the CWA. As of 9:30pm last night, Kaohsiung, Tainan,
POWERFUL DETERRENT: Precision fire and dispersed deployment of units would allow Taiwanese artillery to inflict heavy casualties in an invasion, a researcher said The nation’s military has boosted its self-defense capability with the establishment of a new company equipped with the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). The company, part of the army’s 58th Artillery Command, is Taiwan’s first HIMARS unit. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who presided over the formation ceremony in Taichung on Friday, called the unit a significant addition to the nation’s defensive strength, saying it would help deter adversaries from starting a war. The unit is made up of top-performing soldiers who received training in the US, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The HIMARS can be equipped with
UNILATERAL: The move from China’s aviation authority comes despite a previous 2015 agreement that any changes to flight paths would be done by consensus The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday slammed Beijing for arbitrarily opening the M503 flight route’s W121 connecting path, saying that such unilateral conduct disrespected the consensus between both sides and could destabilize the Taiwan Strait and the wider region. The condemnation came after the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) earlier yesterday announced it “has activated the W121 connecting path of the M503 flight route,” meaning that west-to-east flights are now permitted along the path. The newly activated west-to-east route is intended to “alleviate the pressure caused by the increase of flights,” China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted China’s Taiwan Affairs Office
STRONG WINDS: Without the Central Mountain Range as a shield, people should be ready for high-speed winds, CWA weather forecaster Liu Yu-chi said Danas was yesterday upgraded to a typhoon and could grow stronger as it moves closely along the nation’s west coastline, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Hsinchu and Chiayi cities, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Nantou, Chiayi, Penghu and Pingtung counties have canceled work and school today. Work and school in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Yilan, Taitung, Hualien, Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties would continue as usual, although offices and schools would be closed in Taoyuan’s Luju (蘆竹), Dayuan (大園), Guangyin (觀音) and Sinwu (新屋) districts. As of 5pm yesterday, the typhoon’s
RSS