Hawaiian Governor David Ige on Tuesday responded positively to an invitation from Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka to visit Taiwan.
Kolas extended the invitation during her speech at a reception held in Hawaii to celebrate the 25th anniversary of sisterhood ties between the US state and Taiwan.
In their speeches, both Kolas and Ige, who was re-elected for a second term last month, expressed their willingness to continue promoting ties between Taiwan and Hawaii.
Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan
Prior to the evening reception, Kolas and Ige had met at the Hawaii State Capitol in Honolulu.
Taiwan’s pursuit of democracy and freedom remains unchanged, and multiple policies are in place to achieve these values, Kolas said.
Taiwan’s doors are open to the Pacific and it embraces the people of Pacific nations, she added.
Taiwan and Hawaii are bound by their politics, economics, culture, history and geographical relations, and even by blood, she said, adding that they are like sibling states.
Kolas also received a gift from Hawaii State Senator J. Kalani English.
More than 200 local politicians and leaders from overseas Taiwanese associations attended the reception.
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman James Moriarty and former AIT chairman Raymond Burghardt were also at the event.
In his speech, Moriarty spoke about the history of Taiwan-US relations, and said that the two countries share similar democratic values.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
RSS