US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, will lead a Congressional delegation to the inauguration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in May.
Three other representatives — all members of the Taiwan Caucus — have said they would join the delegation.
The representatives include Alcee Hastings, a Democrat from Florida; Thaddeous McCotter, a Republican from Michigan, and Kay Granger, a Republican from Texas. Following the inauguration, the group will visit South Korea.
However, more people are likely to join the delegation.
While in Taiwan they are expected to talk with members of the Ma administration and also with leaders of the Democratic Progressive Party.
A source close to Ros-Lehtinen said that US arms sales to Taiwan would almost certainly be high on the agenda.
Coen Blaauw, a senior official with the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs, said: “It is encouraging to see Ros-Lehtinen leading this important delegation.”
“She is one of the bravest, strongest and most outspoken long-time friends of Taiwan’s democracy on Capitol Hill,” he said.
“She has no qualms expressing her concern about recent overtures to China made by the current government of Taiwan,” Blaauw said.
US President Barack Obama and his administration is expected to be represented at the inauguration by American Institute in Taiwan chairman Raymond Burghardt.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
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