Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday conveyed Taiwan’s desire to join the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) to a visiting US delegation.
During a meeting with the bipartisan delegation sent by US President Joe Biden, Lai said he hopes progress could be made on a Taiwan-US bilateral trade agreement, as well as on Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
He also expressed a desire for Taiwan to join the Quad, a strategic security dialogue between the US, India, Japan and Australia.
Photo: AP
“The visit by this delegation has important implications for security in the Indo-Pacific. Taiwanese have largely welcomed the visit and it has boosted morale in Taiwan,” Lai said.
Lai said he expects progress on trade and economic cooperation as a result of the meeting.
An economic alliance of democracies is strategically important, and is tied to peace and stability in the region, he said.
Former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, who is leading the delegation, said the Ukraine crisis has been seen as a turning point for the US, and an opportunity to rethink its past practices.
Mullen said he would take Lai’s suggestions back to Washington for discussion.
Mullen also offered words of encouragement, saying the US was happy to see Taiwan, which he said is a beacon of democracy in the region, continue to prosper.
The delegation yesterday also met with Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正), and attended a dinner hosted by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) before concluding their 30-hour visit to Taiwan.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
A Keelung high school on Saturday night apologized for using a picture containing a Chinese flag on the cover of the senior yearbook, adding that it has recalled the books and pledged to provide students new ones before graduation on Thursday. Of 309 Affiliated Keelung Maritime Senior High School of National Taiwan Ocean University graduates, 248 had purchased the yearbook. Some students said that the printer committed an outrageous error in including the picture, while others said that nobody would notice such a small flag on the cover. Other students said that they cared more about the photographs of classmates and what was
GOING INTERNATIONAL: Rakuten Girls squad leader Ula Shen said she was surprised that baseball fans outside of Taiwan not only knew of them, but also knew their names Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Oakland Athletics on Saturday hosted its first Taiwanese Heritage Day event at the Oakland Coliseum with a performance by Taiwanese cheerleading squad the Rakuten Girls and a video message from Vice President William Lai (賴清德). The Rakuten Girls, who are the cheerleaders for the CPBL’s Rakuten Monkeys, performed in front of a crowd of more than 2,000 people, followed by a prerecorded address by Lai about Taiwan’s baseball culture and democratic spirit. Taiwanese pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸), who was signed by the Athletics earlier this year, was also present. Mizuki Lin (林襄), considered a “baseball cheerleading goddess” by Taiwanese
A 14-legged giant isopod is the highlight of a new dish at a ramen restaurant in Taipei and it has people lining up — both for pictures and for a bite from this bowl of noodles. Since “The Ramen Boy” launched the limited-edition noodle bowl on Monday last week, declaring in a social media post that it had “finally got this dream ingredient,” more than 100 people have joined a waiting list to dine at the restaurant. “It is so attractive because of its appearance — it looks very cute,” said the 37-year-old owner of the restaurant, who wanted to be
EVA Airways was ranked the eighth-best airline in the world for this year, the only Taiwanese carrier to make it into the top 25 Airline Excellence Awards this year, aviation reviews Web site AirlineRatings.com said on Wednesday. AirlineRatings.com has a seven-star rating system to evaluate more than 360 airlines around the world every year, EVA Airways said in a statement on Thursday. “We are delighted that efforts by the entire EVA staff have been recognized by Airline Ratings,” EVA Airways president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) said in the release. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company identified and adopted services and procedures that enhance and