President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will today welcome President Elias Antonio Saca of El Salvador at a grand ceremony to be held at Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
Saca and his wife, Ana Mixco, arrived in Taipei last night for a six-day official visit, marking their first visit to the country since Saca assumed his presidency in June.
Chen is expected to award Saca with the "Order of Brilliant Jade with Grand Cordon," -- the nation's highest decoration for heads of state -- in recognition of his contribution in promoting Taiwan-El Salvador relations.
In addition, Chen will host a state banquet tonight at the Taipei County Grand Hall in honor of Saca and his wife.
Accompanied by El Salvadoran Foreign Minister Francisco Lanez, Agricultural Minister Antonio Salaverria and senior business leaders, Saca is expected to discuss bilateral cooperation on tourism, the electronics industry and trade during his stay, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) officials.
39 year-old Saca, a member of the Nationalist Republican Alliance party, was elected president this March. Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) attended Saca's inauguration in June on behalf of Chen.
El Salvador is one of the 26 countries that has formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
In addition to visiting with Chen and other government officials, Saca will visit the Legislative Yuan and attend the Democratic Pacific Assembly slated to be held in Taipei Friday and Saturday, during which he will give a speech.
Meanwhile, Chen is planning to visit two diplomatic allies -- Belize and Panama -- in Central America later this month, but the schedule and location of Chen's stopover in the US remains undecided, pending further negotiation.
The schedule for Chen's overseas visit will be finalized in the days ahead, said a Presidential Office source.
Due to the US' upcoming presidential election, the US stopovers will likely not include New York or Washington "so as not to make trouble for the US," the source said.
Saying that the upcoming trip "will be arranged as simply as possible," possible locations for the stopover include cities on the US west coast, the source added.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS