Guatemalan Ambassador to the US Alfonso Quinonez Lemus on Wednesday welcomed President Tsai Ing-wen’s planned visit to his country, and reaffirmed its friendship with Taiwan.
“Taiwan is Guatemala’s best friend, and Guatemala is Taiwan’s best friend,” Quinonez quoted Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei as saying.
Quinonez was speaking at an event hosted by the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce of North America.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
He said he would like to see the two countries’ ties bolstered, and hopes other countries realize the benefits brought by positive relations with Taiwan, such as in the areas of trade and investment.
Tsai is to planning to fly to the US on Wednesday next week to stay in New York for three days before heading to Guatemala, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday.
She is scheduled to meet with Giammattei and have discussions with Taiwanese expatriates, before traveling to Belize on April 3, flying to Los Angeles on April 4 and returning to Taiwan on April 7, it said.
Separately, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday said that Tsai’s itinerary in the US is still being arranged.
Wu was responding to a lawmaker during a legislative session after being asked about Tsai’s potential meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles and her possible speech at the Hudson Institute in New York, where she is expected to receive the institute’s annual Global Leadership Award.
Asked about the timing of the visit, which comes as Honduras is apparently preparing to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan, Wu said that it is “not a coincidence” and that the schedule was carefully planned.
Additional reporting by CNA
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
WAY OF THE RUKAI: ‘Values deemed worthy often exist amid discomfort, so when people go against the flow, nature becomes entwined with our lives,’ a student said “Run, don’t walk” after your dreams, Nvidia cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) told National Taiwan University (NTU) graduates yesterday, as several major universities held in-person graduation ceremonies for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. “What will you create? Whatever it is, run after it. Run, don’t walk. Remember, either you’re running for food, or you are running from becoming food. Oftentimes, you can’t tell which. Either way, run,” he said. Huang was one of several tech executives addressing graduating students at Taiwanese universities. National Chengchi University held two ceremonies, with alumnus Patrick Pan (潘先國), who is head of Taiwan
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