John Bolton, a former US national security adviser and an outspoken China hawk who said he might run for president next year, is scheduled to visit Taiwan this week, a Radio Free Asia (RFA) report said on Friday.
Bolton said in January that he might run for the Republican US presidential nomination next year against former US president Donald Trump, telling the New York Post that “Trump’s support within the party itself is in terminal decline.”
Prior to being a US national security adviser under Trump from April 2018 to September 2019, he was a US ambassador to the UN from 2005 to 2006.
Photo: Reuters
Bolton’s office told RFA that he would deliver remarks at two pro-Taiwanese independence events in Taipei.
The first is a keynote speech at the World Taiwanese Congress on Saturday, with the theme “Maintaining Long-Term Peace and Security in Taiwan,” while the other is a keynote address at the Formosan Association for Public Affairs’ 40th anniversary banquet on May 1, RFA said.
Bolton has long advocated for a hard line on China and US recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign nation, RFA said, adding that the White House bid he is pondering would be “a long shot, but his position on China is politically astute.”
US polls show that an unfavorable view toward China is increasing among the population, and support for Taiwan is rising, University of Nevada, Las Vegas political science professor Austin Wang (王宏恩) told RFA.
“Bolton’s visit to Taiwan as a [potential] presidential candidate carries two significant meanings: Firstly, it could help him in the primaries of his party, and secondly, it reflects the importance of Taiwan issues for supporters of various political parties,” Wang was quoted as saying.
Bolton would not be the only high-profile Republican to visit Taiwan.
Former US vice president Mike Pence, who said he is also considering a presidential bid, is due to visit Taiwan in June, RFA said.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, who has been touted by supporters as a potential presidential contender, is also scheduled to visit Taiwan ahead of Bolton, RFA said.
Separately, Japanese media reported yesterday that former president of House of Councilors of Japan and Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Akiko Santo is scheduled to visit Taiwan from May 3 in an effort to deepen relations.
The 80-year-old Santo was elected for the eighth time in 2019, making her the longest-serving lawmaker in the chamber, and was also the party’s first female faction head, as well as the first female vice president and president of the House of Councilors, stepping down as president last year.
While hosting a meeting in the Chamber of Japan House of Councilors on June 11, 2021, Santo announced the passing of a motion calling for Taiwan’s attendance at the World Health Assembly, which was passed without objection.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai