President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Sunday said that the treatment accorded to him by the US during his latest transit stop was the best ever.
Ma and his entourage arrived in Houston, Texas, on Sunday on a transit stop en route to Central America on his last overseas trip as president before stepping down in May.
In response to reporters’ questions regarding whether Washington had downgraded his treatment because of his recent visit to Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島), part of the disputed Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) in the South China Sea, as US officials had described the trip as “unhelpful” to attempts to resolve the disputes, Ma said there was no such thing.
Photo: CNA
In his previous visits to other nations over the past few years, he had been to Houston once, which consisted of a short refueling stop without any meetings with expatriates.
Ma said that this was his first formal transit stop in Houston, and that “this is what we wanted.”
Over the past eight years, Ma said he has taken several overseas trips and has made several transit stops in the US.
“I have been to several places on the US west coast, including Seattle, and New York and Boston on the east coast,” Ma said.
“The last place where we had not yet made a transit stop was the southern US, so this time, we intentionally chose Houston,” Ma said.
On May 20, Ma is to conclude his maximum two-term tenure as president, which began in 2008.
Ma is making his 12th overseas trip as president. During those visits, he has set foot on all 22 of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies land, mostly located in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂), who is accompanying Ma on the trip, said Taiwan-US relations have steadily grown over the past eight years.
“This smooth flight transfer is the best proof [of that],” he said.
American Institute in Taiwan Chairman Raymond Burghardt, who was at Sunday’s welcoming dinner, said it is a fact that the past eight years have been the best period for Taiwan-US relations.
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
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS