President of Haiti Jean-Bertrand Aristide is slated to lead a 30-member delegation that will reach Taipei next Tuesday for a five-day state visit, sources told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Katharine Chang (
"President Aristide will arrive in Taipei on the morning of the 16th, and will meet with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), on the 17th," Haiti Ambassador to Taiwan Lafontaine Saint-Louis said.
Chen will preside over a 21-gun salute to his counterpart from Haiti on Wednesday morning before meeting his guest from afar.
He will then entertain the delegation with a national banquet in the evening, said James Huang (
Aristide, who was sworn in for a second term as president of Haiti in February of last year, is also scheduled to visit a telecommunications company as well as a pharmaceutical firm, Ambassador Saint-Louis said.
"We are in the process of modernizing the telecommunications systems in Haiti," said the ambassador, adding that the slated meeting with the telecommunication firm in Taiwan should be helpful to the Haiti's ongoing modernization project.
Members of the delegation, composed of 14 officials and around 16 Haitian business leaders, will also discuss investment opportunities in Haiti with their counterparts in Taiwan, sources said.
During the delegation's trip in Taiwan, Haitian Foreign Minister Joseph Antonio, in the name of Haiti's president, is expected to award a medal to Premier Yu Shyi-kun, the Haitian ambassador said.
Chen will also present medals of the Order of the Brilliant Star to the Haitian president as well as the foreign minister, the Presidential Office said.
Meanwhile, concerning the premier's planned Caribbean trip, Chang said that "the new Costa Rican president was just inaugurated, so the premier plans to visit Costa Rica to cement personal ties with the new leader."
By winning the run-off presidential elections on April 9 this year, Abel Pacheco guaranteed his ruling conservative Social Christian Unity Party a second term in office.
A psychiatrist and TV commentator, Pacheco took office on May 8 and has vowed to continue free market reforms in Costa Rica.
Yu will visit Panama to cement ties between Taiwan and Panama after years of Beijing's interference between the two countries, Chang added.
Susana Richa de Torrijos, vice speaker of Panama's parliament, is currently leading a delegation to visit Beijing, revealed a foreign ministry official, who declined to be named.
China in recent years has also set up representative offices in Panama and Haiti although Beijing's presence in these two countries "would not go so far as pose any immediate threat" to Taipei's diplomatic ties with the two Central American states, the official added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS