Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) will lead a delegation on a visit to the US from Sept. 12 until Sept. 21 in an effort to drum up support, her campaign office announced yesterday.
In one of the most important overseas visits for the DPP presidential candidate, Tsai is expected to meet with US Department of State officials to discuss Taiwan-US and Taiwan-China relations, the campaign office said, without elaborating on specific agenda issues.
Tsai is scheduled to spend two or three days in Washington, where she will meet academics from various think tanks and US congressional representatives, as well as attend fundraising dinners organized by overseas Taiwanese communities, Tsai’s campaign spokesperson Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) said.
The delegation will then make a short two-day trip to Boston, where Tsai will make a speech at Harvard University, the alma mater of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Tsai’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) opponent in January’s presidential election.
Tsai’s Harvard speech was planned strictly because of the university’s prestigious academic reputation and has nothing to do with Ma, Hsu said in response to questions by reporters.
After Boston, the delegation will travel to the US west coast and make stops in Los Angeles and San Francisco, which boast some of the largest Taiwanese communities in the US, before returning to Taiwan.
The response from Taiwanese-American communities has been overwhelming as invitations from cities throughout the US poured into Tsai’s campaign office, inviting her delegation to visit, Hsu said.
“Since we have only 10 days, we are trying to squeeze in as many cities as possible,” she said, adding that details of the itinerary are still being worked out and more cities, such as New York, could be added to the schedule.
The delegation will mainly consist of members of the DPP’s New Frontier Foundation think tank and former DPP administration officials. The size of the delegation has yet to be finalized.
“One thing I can assure you is that it will not be a small delegation,” Hsu said. “The DPP is taking this trip very seriously.”
In June, Tsai made trips to the Philippines, Germany and UK.
A visit to Japan, one of Taiwan’s most important allies, is also in the pipeline, Hsu said, adding that Tsai would like to visit Japan, but nothing can be confirmed at this time.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “[we] appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe