President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is set to embark on Jan. 7 on a nine-day overseas state visit to four of the nation’s diplomatic allies in Central America, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday, but added that the locations for Tsai’s transit stops are still being arranged.
Speaking at a morning news conference at the Presidential Office, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Hou (侯清山) said Tsai is due to visit Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador from Jan. 7 to Jan. 15.
Tsai is to stay one night in Honduras before departing on Jan. 9 for Nicaragua, where the president is to stay for two nights, during which she is scheduled to attend the inauguration ceremony of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega on Jan. 10.
She is to head to Guatemala on Jan. 11 before moving on to El Salvador the next day. She is set to return to Taiwan on the evening of Jan. 15.
“Our Central American diplomatic ally Nicaragua’s presidential election on Nov. 6 went smoothly, with incumbent president Daniel Ortega and his running mate and wife, Rosario Murillo, wining re-election… They have sent an official invitation to Tsai to attend their inauguration ceremony,” Hou said.
The visit, termed the Ying Chieh Project (英捷專案), is aimed at strengthening the friendship with allies in Central America through “head of state diplomacy” and promoting cooperation based on mutual assistance, reciprocity and “win-win,” Hou said.
Hou said Tsai will be leading a delegation of more than 90 people, including National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維), Overseas Community Affairs Council Minister Wu Hsin-hsing (吳新興), deputy heads of government agencies, lawmakers and businesspeople.
Tsai will also visit Taiwanese-invested garment factories in Nicaragua; inspect the achievements of a cooperation program between Taiwan and Honduras, titled “one town, one product” project; tour the ancient city of Antigua in Guatemala; and visit coffee factories in El Salvador, Hou said.
Hou added that the president will also meet with Taiwanese expatriots and members of the nation’s embassies during her trip.
As for Tsai’s transit stops, Hou said the locations are still being negotiated and should be made public next week.
Asked whether the government is facing any pressure, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said there is no such problem and that the delayed announcement is simply due to administrative work.
Following Tsai’s telephone call to US president-elect Donald Trump on Dec. 2, there have been rumors that Tsai will transit in New York City, where she could meet with the US tycoon and his transition team.
However, the rumors were dismissed by Lee earlier this month, saying that New York has never been one of the options considered by the foreign ministry.
A study published by online booking platform Expedia revealed searches for travel to Taipei have ballooned 2,786 percent following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions due to the city being a “designation dupe” for Seoul. The TikTok trend for duping — referring to substituting a designation for a more inexpensive alternative — helped propel interest in Taipei, it said in a consumer survey titled “Unpack ‘24,” which was conducted from September to October in 14 countries. Location dupes are “every bit as delightful as the tried-and-true places travelers love,” Expedia trend tracker Melanie Fish said of the year’s popular alternatives, which
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
A small-scale protest that called on the government to cancel its plan to welcome Indian migrant workers in a bid to tackle Taiwan’s labor shortage was held in Taipei yesterday. During the protest, comprised of a few dozen people staged in front of the Presidential Office on Ketagalan Boulevard, the protest’s chief initiator, a woman identified only as “Yuna” said they wanted the central government to reconsider allowing migrant workers from India to enter Taiwan. Most people in Taiwan had little knowledge about the potential plan to allow in Indian migrant workers until a report in the media last month, she
STABILITY AND CHANGE: Flagging in recent polls, Ko this week pledged to maintain President Tsai’s foreign policy, with an emphasis on improving China relations Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday reiterated that he is “deep-green at heart” in response to accusations that he is pivoting his campaign to align closer with the ideology of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the face of flagging polls. Ko made the remark at an agricultural policy conference in Taipei, repeating his comments from an interview with CTS News a day earlier. Ko told the CTS host that he would continue to pursue President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national defense and foreign policy in general, but with an emphasis on establishing a rapport with
RSS