Interchange Association, Japan Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi was among the first foreign representatives to visit Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday to congratulate her on her election as president.
Having promised her supporters on Saturday night that the celebrations of the party’s election win would only last one night and she would start work for her new office when the sun rose yesterday, Tsai had a busy day planned.
She met Ohashi behind closed doors and the DPP later issued a statement quoting Tsai as saying that “she was joyful that friends from Japan maintained good ties with the DPP even during the party’s most difficult times in the past eight years.”
Photo courtesy of a member of the public
Tsai also said that further cooperation in economy and trade would be the key in future Taiwan-Japan relations, including resuming talks on a free-trade agreement, the statement said.
Tsai attended a luncheon for nearly 100 people, mostly members of her family, friends and overseas supporters at the Taipei Ambassador Hotel.
Former US senator and Alaska governor Frank Murkowski, who sat next to Tsai during the luncheon, said it was a relaxed occasion, and he had a pleasant conversation with her, but they did not touch on serious issues.
Murkowski said the future of the Taiwan-US relationship would be very solid, and the statement from the US Department of State following Tsai’s victory was very positive.
As for the cross-strait relationship, Murkowski said it would be Beijing’s call.
“The people in Taiwan have spoken, they have spoken in favor of democracy overwhelmingly,” he told reporters outside the hotel.
If Beijing is smart enough, it should recognize that “the train is moving” and decide whether to get on, he said.
Throughout the day yesterday, hundreds of supporters poured into Tsai’s campaign headquarters, waiting in long lines for a last chance to purchase campaign souvenirs.
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it. There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the museum’s Web site says. Taiwan would be able to observe one of the lunar eclipses in its entirety on March 3. The eclipse would be visible as the moon rises at 5:50pm, already partly shaded by the Earth’s shadow, the museum said. It would peak at about 7:30pm, when the moon would
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday held a ceremony marking the delivery of its 11th Anping-class offshore patrol vessel Lanyu (蘭嶼艦), saying it would boost Taiwan’s ability to respond to Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics. Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Chung-Lung (張忠龍) presided over the CGA event in the Port of Kaoshiung. Representatives of the National Security Council also attended the event. Designed for long-range and protracted patrol operations at sea, the Lanyu is a 65.4m-long and 14.8m-wide ship with a top speed of 44 knots (81.5kph) and a cruising range of 2,000 nautical miles (3704km). The vessel is equipped with a
DEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads
Two siblings in their 70s were injured yesterday when they opened a parcel and it exploded, police in Yilan said, adding the brother and sister were both in stable condition. The two siblings, surnamed Hung (洪), had received the parcel two days earlier but did not open it until yesterday, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday in Taiwan, police said. Chen Chin-cheng (陳金城), head of the Yilan County Government Police Bureau, said the package bore no postmark or names and was labeled only with the siblings’ address. Citing the findings of a
RSS